A Fresh Start
by Fast and Furious Racewars
Summary: In our lives we will always need a fresh start. Story after 'Fast Five'
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer/AN:** This story is a coproduction of two role players. We're writing this story by taking turns for Mia and Brian. We don't own any of the characters (too bad) but hope you'll enjoy following us during this fresh start.

A Fresh Start

She couldn't help but get out of bed and step out of the house until her feet touched the sand. The sound of waves crashing against each other made her enjoy the moment even more. She was finally free… they were free. Smiling to herself she welcomed the cool wind that was now playing with her hair. Everything was okay… although she couldn't place her finger on it but for some reason a weird feeling of déjà vu came over her. She shook her head changing her way of thinking and once again focused on where she was now.

**

The morning was still early but the wind that blew in through the open windows and gently moved the curtains of the small beach house was already warm. Beads of sweat glistened all over Brian's naked body and only a thin sheet covered a small fraction of his skin. Nevertheless he felt uncomfortably hot as he rubbed his eyes, not willing to open them just yet. For a moment he thought he was in Miami but when he opened one of his pale blue eyes just a tiny bit he saw that he was far from the states…somewhere in a different country.

That's when he realized that Mia wasn't in bed next to him. So he rolled out yawning loudly and then stretched while he walked to the main room of the house from where he could see the ocean and beach in front of the wooden place.

As expected Mia was down on the beach. So Brian made a coffee, slipped into a pair of shorts and then stepped onto the sand with the cup of hot brown liquid in his hand. The sand was already warm beneath his toes- a promise of a hot, wonderful day.

From behind he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on her bare shoulder. Then he held out the cup and asked. "See any whales?"

It seemed like they were in a completely different world now.

**

She smiled as she leaned her body feeling protected and happy. She took the cup from his hands tasting the brown liquid and taking a moment to enjoy the wonderful aroma that was now making its way through her nostrils.

"Nope, no whales." turning her head mimicking his action, she kissed his shoulder. "Sorry I woke you up," she apologized.

"You didn't." Brian placed both hands on her hips and leaned down to kiss her bulging belly. "Hi, you." then he straightened his back and kissed her on the lips. "Hmm,coffee." His fingers twirl a long strand of her hair as he asked with a lovey dovey smile. "How come you look so great in the morning after keeping me up all night?"

Mia's tossing and turning, the heat and the huge rolled up blanket she used to support her belly in bed made night increasingly difficult .He was seriously considering sleeping on the beach.

**

"Ooh! I am so gonna be a soccer mom. This kid has one mean kick," she chuckled taking Brian's hand and placing it on her belly so he could feel their child moving inside of her. "I couldn't sleep, so sorry about me tossing and turning," remembering now why she decided to get out of the house. She still had two months to go until the baby was born. She was excited yet nervous.

"You need to go back to bed," she said looking at his tired expression and the dark circles under his blue eyes didn't help either. She kissed him on the lips "Come on..." taking his hand hoping to convince him to take a long nap.

**

Brian interlaced his fingers with hers but objected. "I'm okay, it's 8 am. I just need a coffee." Together with Mia he walked up to the wooden deck of the small place. It was really picture perfect. Right on the beach, miles from the next house…their own little hide away.

After he made himself a cup of coffee as well he joined his gorgeous girlfriend on the deck and sat down in one of the comfortable wicker chairs stretching out his legs. He blew on the cup sending small clouds of steam into the air.

"Have you settled on a name yet or are you going to leave that one up until the last minute?" He asked the question that had been a topic for the past few days. Since they were so far from civilization doctors visits had been far and few between so the couple hadn't found out the sex of their baby yet. Brian was convinced that it would be a boy though. With his finger he drew a name into the sand that had been blown onto the deck by last night's storm. 'JAKE'.

**

It was hard to explain how she felt, she was beyond happy. He sat down next to her with another cup of coffee in his hand. "hmm…" she looked at her cup of coffee thinking about some names and then her eyes were now looking at the name Brian wrote in the sand. "Jake. I like it but I think we'll have a girl. So, my choice is 'Sienna'," she would've love to bent down and write the name but with her belly it was hard to do it.

Her fingers held the cup a little tighter realizing that yes, they were far away from civilization meaning no doctors, no regular checkups or pre-natal vitamins… it was a little scary. "So, what do you think about the name?" trying to shake the anxiety she was starting to feel.

**

Sticking his toe into the sand he erased the name and took a long sip of coffee and thought about the name 'Sienna'.Then he nodded at looked up at Mia. "Not bad…I like it. Girly, sassy…yeah, but you know it's going to be a boy." He teased with a grin. "So you might as well forget about that name. He scribbled it into the sand where 'JAKE' was before and sipped on his coffee again.

"Maybe we should go to the market in Sierra Molina today and get some fresh greens to keep you round and healthy."He loved teasing Mia. She was by far the most beautiful woman he had ever met-inside and outside and had pretty much fallen for her right from the start. Even with a few more pounds on her hips and a large abdomen she was sexy as hell to him.

So he reached across the table and took her hand. "I love you, you know?" His eyes sparkled in the morning sun because , despite the fact he had throw his job and regular life over board, he was the happiest he'd ever been…if it wasn't for that tiny nagging voice in the back of his head that kept telling him. "Being an outlaw just won't work…something is going to go wrong'. Usually he kept those kind of thoughts to himself in order not to worry his girlfriend.

**

She tried to put on a serious face but the corners of her thin lips always curled up letting the smile win. She punched him lightly on his arm. "You are so sure is going to be a boy, but I have a feeling we'll have a girl," she stood up letting her cup of coffee on her chair and went to where Brian was and sat down on his lap hoping and praying the chair wouldn't break… it was a beautiful chair but the man on the chair was so much better. She placed her arms around his neck. "I know. I love you so much," looking at his wonderful eyes. She placed her head on his shoulder and kissed his neck followed by another kiss on his lips.

**

The chair sounded like an old door when Mia sat on his lap and threatened to break under their triple weight. When she looked him in this eyes Brian was always mesmerized but this morning he felt closer to her than ever. Closing his eyes he joined in the kiss, first gently caressing her lips with his, then sliding his tongue into her mouth and playing with hers. He couldn't help but smile and draw back. "Sorry, haven't brushed my teeth yet." He searched her lips again just to kiss her a little more passionately. This was where he always wanted to be with her.

For a moment they just sat, feeling the other one's body and watching the waves roll in.  
"So, what do you say, breakfast in town?"Brian needed to have a look around for something he really wanted to buy if he got a moment alone.

**

What she loved the most was when he took control over the situation, and she happily returned the kiss, gently and slowly at first. She pouted when he stopped. She didn't care if he forgot to brush his teeth, having his lips on top of hers was the most important right now and then he kissed her again more hungrily, passionately, her hand still snaked around his neck pulling him closer to her. Their bodies hot to the touch, she moaned hoping he wouldn't stop; she craved for him but stopped to catch her breath. She closed her eyes placing her forehead against his as their breaths mixed, a warm breeze caressing their faces, no need for words just the sound of the waves.

Her eyes opened when he spoke. "I say that sounds wonderful, besides I'm starting to feel hungry…" she caressed her belly, kissing Brian's forehead.


	2. Chapter 2

Brian

The drive to the small town took about 20 minutes on the small road that wound its way past orchards and farms.  
The further up they got the cooler the air was and when they reached their destination it gave Brian a few goose bumps.

Stepping out of the car he let his gaze wander around the simple stone and wood houses with their masses of flowers, then walked around to offer Mia a hand because she was starting to have problems crawling out of the low seats.

He spotted a small boy who admired his car while he was sitting on a beat up leather ball. Waving him over he handed him a few coins and explained to watch it while the were going in the coffee on the other side of the road.  
Hand in hand they walked across the street and stepped into the small place. A bell gave away their arrival while large fans whirled the air in the place around.

Brian led Mia to a small table by the window from where he could see the street.  
"I'm starving."

***

Mia

The air seemed cooler as they stepped into the small place. She sat down with the help of Brian and turned to see the street where she could see the small boy sitting under a tree as he played with the few coins Brian gave him. Seeing Brian interact with the little boy made her wish to have their baby in her arms.

She looked at Brian and then down at her hands. "I wonder how Rosa and Nico are," after running from the law for the third or was it fourth time? The only thing she remembered of Vince family was holding little Nico in her arms as Rosa washed the dishes, and how sweetly Rosa spoke to her son telling her it was time to go to bed. 'Can I bring him?' were Mia's words in Portuguese to Rosa as she followed her looking at Brian holding a very happy nephew in her arms.

A waitress approached them snapping Mia out of her thoughts and provided them with the menu promising the couple she was going to be back to take their order. "Yep, I'm starving too," her eyes looked through the menu, too many options to choose from. "Hmm…gosh, I don't know what to order,"

***  
Brian

Brian followed her gaze out the window and then heard her speak about Rosa and Nico.  
The memory was somewhat bitter sweet. When they had met Brian felt somewhat jealous of Vince for having a beautiful wife and son. He had never really wished for a family but with Mia at his side he would have loved to be in Vince's shoes. She was so sweet with that little guy. Mia would make a great, loving mother one day. Things turned bad pretty quickly after that...

Brian blinked and then turned his attention back to Mia, who had troubles deciding what to get. Ordering in a strange language was always a challenge but Brian had picked up the few words he needed...potatoes, beef, beans...but Mia always wanted different things to change up her diet for the baby a bit.  
"Maybe some cod this time." He made a wiggly motion with his hand indicating that he could "translate' that order.

When the chubby, dark haired waitress walked over to their table and fiddled a pen out from behind her ear to scribble down their order on a pad Brian asked for "Cerveza, pro favor."

Even though it wasn't correct they seemed to understand his gibberish everywhere.  
While he watched Mia trying to make a decision he wiped the sweat of his forehead with the fabric of his t-shirt.  
"Sometimes I wish we would have picked a cooler place."  
Then again their small house by the ocean was as close to perfect as things could get.

The waitress raised her brows and started babbling away in Portuguese. It was strange to know that Mia understood almost every word while Brian sat there like an idiot. When she replied it sounded authentic and simply hot to Brian.  
"What did you order?"

**  
Mia

"Obrigada voce," Mia thanked the waitress and placed the menu back on the table. She rubbed her belly and smile waiting a moment to answer his question. She would've love to eat the entire menu but wasn't sure her stomach could handle all the food. "I ordered some Canja (is a meaty Brazilian chicken soup made with rice, carrots, and tomatoes and diced ham.)

**  
Brian

Brian laughed slightly at her choice. "The baby is going to learn to swim pretty early with all the ganja you eat."

He reached across the table to place his hand on hers and played with her fingers. For a moment a sparkling ring caught his eye. Mia had been wearing it forever. He wondered who she got it from or whether she bought it herself. Maybe there should be a ring on her finger that he bought but that would hint towards something he wasn't ready for.

For a brief moment he wondered why he still thought that he wasn't ready...with her being all he ever wanted and now pregnant with his child. Maybe it was the unfortunate circumstances of being on the run.

"What's the story of this ring?" He asked while he fiddled around with it.

**  
Mia

"Very funny," she laughed too as she lightly hit his right arm with her hand. For a moment she looked down at the ring. "I wouldn't call it a story but some sort of tradition in the Torettos family at least for all the girls. This ring's been in the family for awhile. My grandmother had it, and then was passed on to my mother, and then mom gave it to me, so if we have a daughter then she'll have it too." and for some reason she stopped and wondered and tried to understand why Brian hadn't pop the question. Was he afraid to give that step with her? After all they were now having a child… but she was also sure that he loved her so much… and there was a time for everything.

**  
Brian

Brian knew that Mia was all about family and traditions. Unfortunately her father and mother died long before the ex-cop became a part of her life so they never met.  
"It's a nice tradition. Was you mother a lot like you?" He asked while he silently wondered whether the baby would be as gorgeous as her mother if it was a girl. "Would be nice if you could keep that tradition going."

While he took a sip of water from one of the glasses on the table he got a little lost in thoughts. Maybe it was time to pop the question even though the circumstances were unfortunate. But who would be around to join them. Their family and friends were everywhere. The wedding wouldn't even be legal because they could be tracked that way.  
With a smile he looked her in the eyes. "What do you think about me putting a ring on that finger once you pass it on?" He was simply testing the water.

**  
Mia

"Yes, she was a beautiful woman, my same height, long wavy hair, big brown eyes and exotic skin. I don't remember a lot about her just bit and pieces. What I do remember was her always talking to us in Italian. 'Sempre prendersi cura di tua sorella, Dominic'," her voice picking up the accent in a second followed by a chuckle. "Always take care of your sister, Dominic," were her words to Dom." She followed his action taking a sip of her water. "Yes, it would be nice. So, deep down I know we are having a girl,"

She looked at Brian. Something in his eyes, something he needed to get off his chest and she could tell was eating at his insides and making him a little nervous, and when he did pop the question. Her eyes were on him. "What?" it was more of a shock. But why couldn't she say something quick, wasn't she waiting for this moment? "That...that would be wonderful," her eyes had a spark and she couldn't hide her smile.

**  
Brian

Watching her talk about her own mother in such a loving tone made Brian almost a little jealous. His parents had always been good to him and his brother but they weren't the overly warm kind and Brian couldn't remember the last time he had talked to them.

The subject was dropped quickly when Mia reply to his very important question. For a moment he held his breath hoping he hadn't crossed some invisible line. The Torettos all had a temper and he simply didn't want to mess with Mia's feelings, especially now that she was pregnant.

Her reply made him smile, even though it was a little hesitant. For a moment he searched her dark orbs to figure out why she hadn't replied faster but then simply stated. "I know the timing is bad...with cops on our tails and no friends or family around."Hopefully Mia would direct him the way she wanted to go.

Slowly he rubbed her hand and stated. "I've been thinking about this for a while now. I'd like you to ..." He had to take a deep breath because his chest suddenly seemed awfully tight. "Be my wife but I can wait."

**  
Mia

Her smile got wider as she heard his words. "Why wait?" Yes, there was no friends or family and they had the cops on their tails but to know he was always gonna be there for her and stay with her for the rest of his and her life… She leaned to capture his lips. "I love you," her eyes filled with tears as the baby began to kick and move inside of her. "Ow," the baby's movement was a little uncomfortable and lasted longer than before.

"Looks like somebody else is happy too," suddenly the room felt hotter and she had to blink twice and take a deep breath. Afraid that she was going to faint if she stood up, she placed her head in her hands and tried to somehow calm herself and the baby too who was still moving inside.

**  
Brian

As much as Brian loved Mia's reaction her pale face had him worried. With creased brow he watched her drink some water and lean forward to look back into his eyes. "Tell me, if something's wrong, okay? You look a little pale."

Maybe it was simply the fact that she hadn't eaten anything yet and the little being inside of her needed lots of nutrients.

His thoughts went back to his 'proposal'. It wasn't as genuine as he wanted it to be. Brian had wanted it to be more romantic, more official but now he had simply asked her in a awkward way so he made a mental note to find a pretty ring and get down on one knee when he had it.

Mia could have said no or she could have told him that she wanted to wait until Dom was around but instead she wanted to get married now, not matter what the circumstance were. But she didn't.

"How about you go to the market alone after breakfast and I'll go get "something else'." He hinted with a smile. "If you feel up to it," Was she about to collapse or simply surprised beyond believe?

**  
Mia

"I'm fine. I didn't mean to scare you," she reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. Hopefully by the end of their meal she'd feel better to shop. It wouldn't be good to go home without buying some groceries. Besides, she didn't want to worry him even more.

She rolled her eyes and giggled when he heard about her wanting to go alone to the market while he 'got something'. She totally understood what he was going to do. His smile reminded her of a child, and his excitement was contagious. If that's what he wanted for his girlfriend to do then she'll do it. "Yes, I'd love to go to the market."

Finally, the waitress arrived with their orders. The waitress apologized for having them wait longer than she expected."Você está bem?" the waitress asked Mia with a worried voice seeing the Toretto's pale face.

"Sim, tudo bem." Mia replied with a smile. The waitress apologized once more and walked to another table to attend other customers.

"Yay," she simply said and started to eat.

Brian

He was glad that she smiled and played along with his request but made a mental note not to let her go alone if she was still as pale as right now. Hopefully that would change after a good meal, which was just arriving and immediately made his mouth water. Brian inhaled deeply and stated. "That smells wonderful." Happily he watched Mia receive her plate filled to the brim with that stew she liked so much. His order still had to arrive and the smell made his mouth water.

"I might start drooling but go ahead and start, Mia."A moment later his food arrived. Digging in and shoving large spoonfuls in his mouth he enjoyed the rich taste and let his mind wander a little bit. What kind of ring should he get her…a simple one or maybe a flashy one with a big stone? Brian actually got a little excited about this, which was quite unusual.

The only thing he ever got excited about was fast cars. But when it came to Mia there was a different kind of excitement running through his veins…less of an adrenalin kick and more of a loving, pleasurable contentment. He looked up at her and swallowed his bite. Mia had his eyes fixed on him and had obviously been watching him. "What?" He asked with a grin.

Both of them finished their meals and drinks fairly quickly but as they stepped outside Brian took Mia's hand and stopped her. "Are you really feeling good enough to venture off by yourself?"

They both had cell phones but being in a foreign country with cops searching for them and pregnant Mia not feeling good had him a little on edge."We could go together to…you know."

**  
Mia

She loved that smile. What exactly could it be running though his mind? Yes, she already knew what he was up to but still watching him getting all excited. "Nothing," she shook her head letting out a chuckle.

She finished eating letting the exquisite flavor of her last spoonful of stew made its way down her throat and felt her strength coming back slowly and by the look of Brian's face she was still pale. "Don't worry, go and do whatever you have to do. I'll be fine,"

"Come on Brian! I am okay. Both of us have cell phones, nothing bad is going to happen. Now stop worrying so much and go," she placed her arms around his neck pulling him close to her as their lips meet at first in an rush and urgent kiss and later became slow and passionate.

She removed her lips from his and stood on her toes and kissing his forehead. "I love you,"

**  
Brian

Even though Mia assured him that was feeling good again Brian had his doubts but he had learned not to argue with the Torettos a long time ago because they always came out on top.

The feeling of her kiss lingered on his lips a little longer than it really lasted. Smiling back at her he replied. "I love you, too."

Lifting his fingers with the keys into the air he jingled them a few times before he threw them to Mia so she could put the groceries in the car."I'll meet you back here in an hour."

Once again he kissed her and then turned to walk away towards the inner city.  
He was only a few steps away when he spun around on his heel again and told her. "You'll love this. Be careful!" Then he turned back, walked another few steps and jumped up in the air to state just how excited he was.

A few moments later he turned the corner of an old granite stone building and was out of sight.

**  
Mia

She catch the keys of the car when he throw them at her and then stopped and returned to give another kiss that moments ago she decided to start. "I know I'll love it. Now go," she patted his back and saw him disappeared turning to a granite stone building. She shook her head and got in the car. Only two blocks away from where she was but walking wasn't an option not in her 'condition' besides if she took five steps she'll be melting.

She drove to a small grocery store and entered welcoming the cool breeze, with a small cart she walked through the aisles and picked out a few things, she kept walking not noticing the time and when she looked at her cell phone it was now 2pm. She was since 1 o'clock trying to remember what else she could buy.

After seeing the items in her cart and making sure nothing from her list was missing, she proceeded to pay. The cashier greeted her with a smile on her face. "Boa tarde," Mia greeted back. Suddenly, she leaned on the cart to catch her breath, for some reason she was starting to feel weak, but hadn't she eat already? She shouldn't be feeling this way…

The cashier face went from happy to worry when she sawhow Mia's face went from normal to pale in a matter of seconds, her natural and rosy were now grey and dry. "I'm fine," she told the cashier in perfect Portuguese… Her shaky hands looked for her cell phone in her purse and when she found it she pulled it out calling Brian.

Moments before Brian went to get what she thought he was going to get, she let him know where she was going to be. Even though both had a cell phone they had to know where each one was going just in case…

The phone at the other end of the line started ringing and a male voice spoke. "Brian… I don't feel…" she said between short breaths until she couldn't fight it anymore… before darkness took over her, the cell phone she had on her hand dropped to the floor cutting communication with Brian. "Ow..." she complained quietly feeling an intense pain on her abdomen. _'Please not my baby, please…'_ she pray in her mind as a tear made its way down her chocolate eyes, everything around her became pitch black and the last word that came out of her lips was her lovers name. "Brian…."


	3. Chapter 3

Brian

Brian hadn't been in such a good mood for a while. He felt excited in a very good way. He would ask Mia to marry him and was pretty sure she'd say yes. The decision to spend their lives together was the only one that made sense to Brian and one of the few things he really wanted aside from clearing his name, which was impossible.

Somewhere mixed into the high there was a little bit of anxiety about not being ready to give up being a bachelor. Then again he had seen Mia as his companion of choice for a long time. She was his best friend and the one woman he couldn't say no to.

With quick steps he headed to a small news stand, where he asked for a jeweler. Soon he found the small but exquisite store, which had a range from simple, affordable rings to large, expensive ones.

Brian got a little worried about choosing one that Mia would like. With knitted brow he browsed the selection and stopped at two that were fairly simply. As far as he was considered he'd marry her without a game but this was a token and part of the game. Knowing Mia wasn't all about fancy clothes and things so Brian was pretty sure she'd be happy with a simpler one if it came from him.

The ex-cop chose the one he liked better, a gold ring that was slightly twisted and held a small sparkling stone. He offered the jeweler a little less than the price tag, as in these nick of the woods bargaining was considered good tone, and after a little back and forth the man agreed.

Just when he was about to pay his phone rang. With a smile he answered. "I know I'm taking too long. I'll be right..." He got cut off by her gasps and then suddenly the call stopped.

Instantly he felt his stomach drop. Something was wrong with Mia...

As quickly as he could he bolted out of the store, ran down the sidewalk, turned a corner just to run into a woman, who he almost knocked over and who proceeded to swear at him in Portuguese.

"Sorry!" He yelled while he kept running. His legs were starting to burn just like his lungs but he had to get to Mia as soon as he could.

Mia

She could hear people around her but everything was black and for a moment she forgot about what had happen for her to be in the place she was. Where was she exactly? Her eyes felt heavy and as much as she tried to open them it was useless.

Her mind started to run pictures of her life with Brian. Oh god…was she going to die? And her baby….her baby! That beautiful child inside of her, was the baby ok? She wanted to scream for help but her mouth wouldn't open to shout, she wanted to sit up from the floor but her body wasn't reacting, she felt lonely, vulnerable.

Did the ambulance arrive? The police maybe? Will the police find out who she was… her heart picked up speed as she became nervous, her throat felt like closing… was she holding back sobs she couldn't set free?

Where was Brian? She needed to hear his voice even though she couldn't reply back; she needed to feel his touch and his warm breath caressing her ear reassuring her she was going to be all right.

She felt so weak to the point of not moving… what she feared the most was not knowing how her baby was and that fear became evident when she didn't felt the baby move or kicked inside of her.

Brian

The next few minutes were the most awful ones in his life. Knowing that Mia was in trouble but not knowing what kind was awful. What was worse was that with every step he felt too far away because he couldn't help her but still couldn't reach her.

When he finally turned the corner of the store and pushed through the curtain of beads that kept flies outside he could barely breathe himself. Brian had to take a moment, resting his hands on his thighs and breathing heavily because he could actually start looking around for Mia.  
With hand and feet he tried to get information where she was when he could hear sirens outside. Immediately he jumped and turned to see whether it was the local police or an ambulance.

Without waiting to find out he ran up and down the aisles when a man in a butcher apron finally pulled him into a back room. The blood on the apron made Brian's heart stop for a split second. Was that Mia's blood?  
"Where is she? Show me!"

Sure enough the man led him to a break room with a small couch where Mia was sprawled out like a dead frog. Her face had lost all color and she was put cold.

"Oh no!" He exclaimed when he stumbled to her side and immediately felt for her pulse. To his great relief he noticed it, faint but there.

Then his eyes darted to her abdomen. There were no visible injuries, no blood.  
Somewhat relieved he stroked her face and tried to wake her up. "Mia, wake up, c'mon Mia. Don't do this to me." His stroking turned into small slaps.

Mia  
_  
"Mia, wake up,"_ who was calling her? She felt tired but the voice insisted for her to wake up. She could feel a pair of hands stroking and then the rhythm change to small slaps on both of her cheeks.

She moaned and slowly opened her eyes, she blinked a few times, the light was blurring her vision and that's when she remembered where she was. Inside the grocery store, fear filled her mind and she looked around until she saw him. "Brian…" she whispered his name only for her voice to break at the end. She was overwhelm with emotion, she shook as her hands rested on her belly and sobbing waited for her unborn child to make a move.

Seconds seemed to become hours and that's when the baby moved sending a wave of relief to Mia. "I need a doctor now. I don't care about the law chasing us," she was upset and it was understandable. She needed to see for herself the baby was doing fine because if she didn't and something bad happened to him/her she would never forgive herself.

And what was worst… Getting Brian worry yet pissed off. She felt good before he left and she knew very well she should've asked him to go with her. She couldn't look at Brian, she felt ashamed putting her health and their baby in danger, more tears kept falling and her eyes wouldn't meet his.

A huge rock dropped from Brian's heart when he heard her groan. Immediately he enclosed Mia in his arms and held her for a moment with his heart hammering in his chest like crazy.  
"Thank goodness, you're awake."  
Then he held her at arm length and knitted his brow. He had hardly ever felt this worried for another person before. "What happened, Mia?" She looked awfully pale and weak.  
At least the abrupt ending of the call wasn't because the cops had caught her.

It might not be long until that would happen if she really went to a doctor but if she was passing out things were serious. So Brian decided that she was right. She needed to see a doctor."Is there anything wrong with the baby? Can you feel him?"

He noticed the subtle change in her expression from worry to something a little darker. "What is it, Mia. Tell me."

Before he could get an answer the door behind them was pushed open and three paramedics in full gear made their way into the room. They asked something that Brian didn't understand which one of the employees answered, and started taking Mia's pulse and heartbeat.  
Brian held Mia's hand tight as he watched them. Then he leaned close to her ear and whispered. "Give me your wallet. No ids. Tell them a fake name."

Mia  
The moment his arms were around her and to hear him say he was glad she was awake were words Mia wasn't expecting. "I- the baby is fine… I feel him," she swallowed feeling a knot in her throat when he panicked and insisted to tell him how she felt.

She quickly gave Brian her wallet and in seconds paramedics worked on her. "I'm fine," she started to say hoping the paramedics would go away but that kept them more alert.

"No, ma'am you don't look fine," the taller of the two paramedics told her. She gave a fake name once her vitals were taken.

"It's ok. Really, I'll call my doctor in a few minutes and let him know about what you just told me. Please," she insisted, she was drawing more attention. The paramedic took a moment to look at her.

How the heck was she going to afford a doctor? She forced herself to think of something else so she wouldn't stress more. They had to find a solution, she'd have to call Rosa for some help, it was her only way out, the only person she trusted besides Brian and also family.

Brian

The paramedics tone surely alerted Brian but Mia stayed as calm as you possibly can after passing out and refused to let them transport her to a hospital. Brian on the other hand figured that she should definitely be check to avoid another incident like this.

"Hang on a second. Just give us a moment, okay?" He asked the paramedic, who understood English and kneeled down next to Mia.

Then he took her hand and spoke in a low tone. "I think you should go with them. You're blood pressure is down and you look pretty bad, just go with them and make sure everything is fine. I want you and our baby to be okay." He watched the expression on her face but knew that she was still going to object but not why. "What are you worried about? I'll follow the ambulance."

Mia  
She sighed and he was right. She had to avoid more incidents like the one she just had. She couldn't keep risking her own life but most importantly her baby's life. She was worried about lots of things about not taking precautions, about not speaking when she didn't feel a 100%. "Ok, I'll meet you in the hospital," she agreed and leaned on him before getting into the ambulance.

"Let's go," she spoke in Portuguese to one of the paramedics. She slowly and carefully with the paramedics help got in the ambulance and the doors were closed. She tried to calm her nerves. "The baby is fine," she thought to herself in a way to lift up her spirits but that didn't take away the worry that she still had in mind about her unborn child.

Brian:  
All the way to the hospital Brian's mind worked over time what could be wrong with the woman he loved. Unfortunately his medical knowledge was very limited and the only thing he knew how to deal with were sprained ankles or even the odd bullet wound. Pregnant women fainting weren't part of his repertoire.

So he found himself chasing the ambulance half in thoughts, ran a red light and barely avoided a collision with a truck. Silently he cursed himself for not paying better attention. What good was he to Mia injured or dead?

As quickly as he could he parked his car and then jogged to the main entrance in search of the emergency room. It was extremely busy with injured or sick people and for a moment he just wanted to turn and head back out. The sterile smell and the people in light green reminded him of former painful experiences that he surely didn't care to repeat.  
But he told himself that Mia needed him here. Unfortunately he couldn't find her for a while because he didn't know what name she had told the paramedics. So he simply asked for "the American woman".

After what seemed ages the ex-cop was led to a room that was only devided by a few curtains, where he finally found her. She was still pale and by now hooked up to an IV to restore her fluids.  
A nurse tried her best to tell him in English that they had taken some blood to find out what was the matter with her and would soon do an ultrasound to make sure the baby was okay.

Completely out of breath Brian collapsed in a chair next to Mia and reached for her hand. "Why didn't you tell me you're not feeling good?"

Mia  
The curtained open and there he was. She looked down at her arm where seconds ago a good amount of 6mls of blood were taken out of her. She slowly took his hand and the change of color was evident. Her skin didn't have that exotic color anymore and it scared her more than he could imagine. "I felt fine until minutes later,"

"Brian..." her hands covered her face for a second. It was not good to cry. She felt stressed out and guilty, if she hadn't let him go she wouldn't be here in the first place.

Brian

Don't you worry about that. You just take care that you're getting better."

The sound of a pregnant groaning woman interrupted them. Despite the fact that Brian didn't want Mia to be in pain at all, he knew it was inevitable so he joked. "Are you looking forward to that?"

Her answer made him frown because he knew exactly what she meant. He had had a few accidents that sent him to the hospital like the one when him and Dom went down to Mexico to bring back Arturo Braga. The mission was achieved but Brian had rolled his car and came out with a broken rib that puncture his kidney, which hadn't been fun at all and had him hospitalized for over 10 days. The good thing that came out of it had been Mia's attention and possibly affection growing when she visited him and their quickly before Brian and Dom left turned into a great relationship.

"So do I but you'll just have to suck it up. Remember when I was in the hospital after out trip to Mexico." He gently rubbed her belly. "We wouldn't be together if that hadn't happened. Nobody wants to be here but at least you'll be coming back for something good, right?"

He gently ran his hand over her hair. "What happened?" How pale she was and how she simply passed out didn't make any sense to Brian and gave him stomach cramps.

Mia  
"I'll be a big girl, don't worry… I just feel overwhelm with all that happened" his hand on her hair felt warm. She kissed his hand and looked at the ceiling of the room she was in.

"What I remembered was getting ready to pay and started to feel dizzy more than when we were in the restaurant and felt weak like something sucked all my energy in a second," she frown remembering the sensation she felt like it was second ago.

"Next thing I'm desperately looking for the phone and waiting for you to answer the phone, then everything went black and I was on the floor, felt a sharp pain on my side," touching her left side of her abdomen. "And I panicked… I didn't feel the baby moving and I thought…" her voice trailed off and stopped talking.

"I'm so ready to go home…" hopefully the doctor will be with them in a few minutes.

Brian

Brian

The sharp pain she mentioned had Brian worried within a second. "What pain? Did you tell them?" He knitted his brow, his blue eyes filled with fear for their child.

Like on cue a nurse showed up behind them, drew the curtain back and brought in a wheel chair for Mia. She asked her to sit in it in Portuguese and then cast a glance at Brian, who unfortunately had no idea what she asked him.

The young woman wheeled Mia down the corridor, into an elevator and then onto another corridor, which was filled with pregnant women or new mothers. "Must be the maternity ward." Brian suggested while he watch the women pass them buy.

Finally they reached a door but the soon to be father had to wait outside.  
His chest felt tight when he thought about Mia's word but all he could do was firmly press his back against the cold wall and wait for his girlfriend to return.

Much sooner than expected a man in his late 40ies poked his head out and waved him in. "You father?" He enquired in broken English.  
For some reason Brian's nerves were instantly raw. What could be wrong?

The room was dark and Mia was on her back with her belly exposed while the doctor returned to running his ultrasound over top of it.

Brian gasped at sight of his unborn child on the screen. This was the first time he'd seen the baby. A mixture of excitement and worry almost made him well up.

Apparently the doctor was aware of it so he nodded. "The baby is okay. Healthy, strong heart but…"

Brian could swear he would die any second. "But what?" He exchanged a glance with Mia, who looked equally worried.

"The membrane here is ruptured." He pointed out a slightly thicker white line."  
What? Brian held his breath to be able to keep listening. He truly had never been as worried in his life before, for no one.

"That means that, if this tear continues, your wife's water will break. If not bacteria can enter and could be dangerous for baby."

A shaky hand found Mia's as Brian tried to take in the information without falling over.


	4. Chapter 4

**A Fresh Start  
Chapter 4**

A/N: Fanfiction authors that love the story so far or that left a review or even if you place this story as your favorite. We don't have a Dom and I do need one and will not continue the story until we have a Dom! =) If you're interested please send your sample writing via a PM (Private Message) Thank you!

***

Mia

Her eyes filled with happy tears as she saw their unborn child. She looked at Brian and his eyes said it all relief, happiness… the doctor started to explain the baby's condition and everything was fine until the doctor stopped talking and Brian was the next to ask what was wrong. Her heart skipped a beat...what could be wrong with her baby?

What the doctor explained to them was scary. "Ok. What can I do to stop the tear?" her hand squeezed Brian's.

"No stress and we'd have to monitor you for the next couple of weeks," the doctor explained Mia in Portuguese so she turned to Brian and told him what the doctor said.

"I can do that," she agreed with the doctor. She knew Brian too well and knew he won't even let her pick up a glass with water.

Brian

For a moment Brian felt somewhat relieved that there was something they could do or to be precise, that Mia could do but at the same time he felt helpless, useless, not part of it all because the baby was inside of her.

"You have to stay here so we can monitor you closely." The doctor explained and gave them an assuring nod.

With him all security left and the ex-cop could feel his hands starting to shake while his breathing was getting faster.

"What happens if they baby is born now?" He didn't mean to worry Mia but maybe she knew more than he did. Scary scenarios started playing in front of his inner eye, worrying him more each second. His throat was suddenly strangely dry and tight. "I don't want to lose our little one, Mia."

Wasn't he supposed to be the strong, reassuring one?

Mia

She didn't need to argue with the doctor, if that's what she needed then she'll stay. Brian's hand started shaking and her focus wasn't on the doctor anymore and then he asked a question she wasn't looking forward to hear but had to be asked at the same time.

Her lips quiver and she avoided Brian's gaze for a minute trying to push the knot that started to form in her throat. It was scary to hear Brian saying those words to her.

She squeezed his hand as hard as she could. "Ok, listen. That's not going to happen… we are going to get through this, ok? We will…" She wiped a few tears with the back of her hand.

"Our baby will be fine," her voice was strong and filled with faith.

Brian

Her confidence and calm manner surprised Brian. He knew a lot about his girlfriend but both of them had never been in a situation like this. When it came to his own safety, especially during races, Brian was a pretty reckless guy. The story was completely different when it concerned Mia or their unborn child.

Despite Mia's efforts to calm him down Brian couldn't fight the growing tightness in his chest and throat. His next words came out cracked up and obviously desperate. "I'm really scared, Mia." He couldn't even look her in the eye but stared at the screen, that had turned black. "I don't want anything to happen to you or our baby. I love her so much already." It was strange to think that way because their child wasn't even born. With watery eyes he managed a weak smile while he kept his eyes on the screen. "Did you see that little heart beat?"

A nurse entered the room behind them with the wheel chair and explained that she'd bring Mia to one of the rooms.  
Brian knew that a few very cruel days were ahead of them, so he placed a long kiss on her lips but didn't say anything else because all that would come out was going to worry her even more.

"I'll try to get in touch with Dom." Her brother would want to know about this.

Mia

His kiss was long; she could taste his desperation and worry. She turned to the nurse and asked for just 5 minutes. The nurse stepped out to leave the couple with some privacy. "Don't be scared. I'll stay here and it'll be easier to keep an eye on me and the baby,"

She stopped and remembered when the doctor pointed with his finger to a little heart. She smiled. "I did see it. So, you think we are having a girl?" she tried to lighten the heavy and sad mood that felt in the room.

"Honey, stop torturing yourself with something that is not going to happen, okay? And yes we need to contact Dom. He needs to know," The nurse came back and before the nurse could push the wheelchair she looked at Brian. "I love you," the nurse started to push the wheelchair and for some reason Mia felt very calm. Yes, she was worry a little about the sudden change in Brian and it was understandable but deep down inside she knew everything was going to be fine.

Brian

Brian wasn't sure where she was getting her confidence from but, after a long kiss and hug, he allowed himself to get influenced by her good mood. After all she was the one carrying their baby. She had a better understanding of what was going on in her body.

"I love you…both of you. Make sure to call me if anything happens, yeah, Mia?" Only after she agreed the ex-cop stepped out of the sterile smelling room onto the busy hallway.

He really didn't want to leave her alone but the hospital surely wouldn't let him lay in bed with her. So instead Brian needed to get a hold of Dom, grab a few items for Mia and go buy a few baby things, which he had no idea how to do or what to get. Wasn't this supposed to be a new mother's job? Or at least together?

With his head hanging he stepped out of the hospital and climbed into the driver seat.

Only when he was driving back toward their small house the full impact of what they could soon be facing hit Brian. The baby could die, Mia could die, it could be very small and ill. Brian's chest tightened as his imagination went wild with all sorts of worst case scenarios. He tried to push away his fear but wasn't very successful.

His hand slipped into his pocket from where he pulled out his cell phone and pressed speed dial. It wasn't Dom's number but Rose, a woman who always relayed their messages for each other.

"Rose, it's Brian O'Conner. I need to get a message on to Dom. When he calls you, could you let him know that Mia is in the hospital? She might be having the baby early. Thank you!"

Usually Dom called her every week at least once. She was their safety measure to avoid the Feds catching both of them in case they caught on to one of them. Rose told Brian that she hadn't heard of her best friends son in almost a week, so Dom would get the message within the next days.

Brian thanked her and reminded her again that it was urgent but didn't notice the car that was trying to pass him on the narrow winding road while he was talking on the phone. Distractedly he went a little too far in the middle of the narrow road just when both cars were at the same height. The sides grinded against each other with a deafening sound sending a jolt of adrenalin though him as he stared over at the man's shocked face instead of keeping his eyes on the road where they were heading straight towards a small delivery truck….


	5. Chapter 5

**A fresh start  
Chapter 5**

**A/N: **We still need a Dom, yes we continue the story but there's no Dom. So, readers or fanfiction writersthat love 'Fast and Furious' and would like to role play 'Dom' please send us your sample writing via PM. We need a 'Dom' ASAP and once again thank you for reading and reviewing =)

Mia

She agreed to call him if anything happened, but to see him walk away; she couldn't help but feel a weird sensation. Like something was going to happen. What if she tried to stop him? Was he still in the hospital parking lot? Could she take that chance, but the way she felt, her chest felt heavy… she had to get to him.

Could she really place her baby in more danger? But it was the father of her child that she let go. Just to buy some things and contact her brother… why did she let him go? Determined, she stood up from the bed she was and changed her hospital gown to the clothes she once had.

But where could she go? Frustrated she hit the mattress of the medium bed she was laying seconds ago. "Damn it Brian. Why did I let you go? Why?"

Brian  
Everything happened way too fast for Brian to prevent it. With the car next to him in the opposite lane and the cliff right next to that side of the road the truck had nowhere to go but across Brian's lane into the brush. Unfortunately there wasn't enough time for the large delivery vehicle to cut all across Brian's lane before the two cars collided. All the former Fed could see were the oncoming headlights. With both hands firmly wrapped around the wheel he slammed on the breaks and let the ABS do its work.

The adrenaline rushing through his veins pushed all fear aside so Brian's mind wandered to Mia and their baby. Would she have to bring her up alone? Next thing he knew was the incredible force, with which the two vehicles collided, glass shattering, metal grinding and Brian getting thrown around like a rag doll. His Nissan GTR rolled several times and Brian could only hope that it wouldn't fly down the cliff into the ocean.

His head connected with the side window in a very painful way just before the car came crushing down on the driver side where Brian got wedged in between the door and the steering wheel. The whole side panel got torn up by the rocks it hit leaving nothing more than scrap metal of the once beautiful car. On impact Brian could feel his left arm and leg getting squished. As unbearable pain shot from his elbow into his shoulder and from his knee up in his hip a scream escaped him, which he suppressed quickly. Brian had been in accidents before but only once rolled a car. Immediately he knew he was in trouble but at least he was alive.

Breathing hard he tried to wait until the pain subsided but it only seemed to get worse causing him to clutch the top of his leg with his right arm because the left one was incapacitated. He barely managed to hold back the tears while he allowed himself a moment to observe the situation.

The only escape was through the passenger door, which was now right above him. There didn't seem to be a fuel leak, at least he couldn't smell any right now. On the other hand he had no idea what was going on outside. Was there gasoline on the road. Was there a fire in one of the other two cars, that had been involved in the crash?  
It was getting increasingly hard to think a clear thought as Brian's thoughts got more and more confused and thoughts of Mia and the need to call Dom got intermixed with them and he felt himself getting more and more disoriented. All he knew was that if he passed out a fire would be fatal.

Mia

Why was he taking so long? Her fear and worry got the best of her. She stood up and removed her IV catheter; she had to find a phone. She hurried between the halls of the hospital blending with the few people waiting to hear from their love ones. She finally got out of the hospital and walked around for a little until she found a phone, she could've ask for the phone at the hospital but why get exposed? No, that wouldn't be a good idea. The day was hotter as usual. She removed sweat beads from her forehead and finally took the phone in her hands and dialed Brian's number.

Why wasn't he picking up? Who could she call? She was breathing heavily as the sun made her dizzy. She walked back to the hospital feeling her heart being squeezed so hard she had a hard time catching her breath, just a few more steps and she was almost back inside the hospital.

Once again she blended with all the people and finally entered her room and sat down on the bed and when she placed her head on the pillow she gave in to exhaustation and fell asleep still wondering where the father of her baby was.

She needed Brian and her brother but neither of them was with her in this happy and scary moment in her life.

Brian

His knee and elbow hurt so badly he couldn't think of anything else. Involuntarily he wondered whether his bones had been broken or shattered. The warm, sticky feeling on his hand gave away that his arm was bleeding. Little red droplets were dripping from his fingertips into the plastic paneling of the door.

Talking a deep breath Brian attempted to pull his arm out of the gap which only resulted in excrutiating pain. His face turned bright red but he didn't give up and tried again a moment later but this time he pushed his left hand against the door for leverage. It provided enough pressure on the plastic that he could pull out his arm. Immediately he clutched the bleeding torn up limb to his chest. The pain was so massive that groaning seemed to be the only relief. After a few heavy breaths he left his left hand go and took a look at it assessing the damage. A deep gash gave way to a stream of blood just above his elbow. For a lack of better options he pressed his free hand on it to stop the blood loss and let his head fall against the headrest because his vision was swimming.  
When his eyes wandered to the window on top there was nobody in sight to help him but his leg was still stuck and he was feeling increasingly naseous.

Being trapped like a mouse in a cage his hopes sank by the minute. What would Mia do without him? Would she get by all right? He pictured her giving birth alone, his little girl on the beach without a father. Brian would never be able to teach her to walk, swim or maybe drive a car. She's never even know him….His heart tightened as his hopes sank as if somebody was pulling a rope tighter and tighter. With a hug lump in his throat he struggled against the bleak outlook. Brian had to do something.

"Help." He gasped, then louder. "I need help!"

Mia  
A young woman in her mid 30's was walking with a boy around 6 years old. Her eyes brown and her skin were exotic just as the place she was in right now, walking in the streets of Rio. She had been talking with her son about school when she saw the major accident in front of her eyes. Then screams of the American man alerted her and she went from a state of shock to a 'do-something' kind of state. She asked her son to stay where he was and she increased her pace so she could help the man get out of the car. She bent down and pulled him out of the car.

Brian  
His vision was somewhat blurry but there was somebody up at the passenger door reaching down to help him. Desperately he stretched his right hand for the helping one. They interlocked and immediately the person pulled hard. Brian managed to slip his right leg out of the trap between the dashboard and the seat. With all his strength he pushed his foot against the smashed dashboard to help and pull his squeezed in leg out. For a moment it felt like his leg would simply tear off in an agonizing way but a second later it slipped out of the gap and allowed the woman to help Brian out of the smashed Nissan.  
It was hard to climb out with just one arm and leg, that worked normally but when he made it to the top he understood why he needed to get away fast. The truck had caught fire and was radiating heat.

He squinted against his growing headache and blurred vision. "Where's the driver?"  
Against his urge to help he slid off the wreck that used to be his car and, with the help of the Brazilian, limped away from the heat. It would only be a matter of minutes until the tank would catch fire and most likely explode.

A little further over he spotted a man on the grass bleeding heavily rocking back and forth. Unfortunately his own feet didn't carry him much further so he collapsed on the grass nearby while his hearing and vision was fading in and out, be it due to the blood loss from the gash on his arm or his head connecting with the side window.

His eyes darted around to finally fall on the dark skinned woman, who had helped him. With shaky fingers he reached for her arm and muttered. "Mia, tell Mia."

Only a split second later an explosion erupted from within the delivery truck and tore it into flaming pieces that came flying through the air together with a pressure wave that sent everybody, who wasn't on the ground yet, down.

Mia  
The woman bent down looking through the small backpack for an old shirt of her son and wrapped Brian's injury applying pressure so he wouldn't bleed to death. She tried to comprehend what the blonde guy was trying to tell her but she only spoke Portuguese and this guy just spoke English. It was going to be hard to understand what he said. Her eyes moved to the driver unconscious on the floor just as the street began to fill with more people.

The sound of sirens alerted all the people and she looked down at the blonde guy just to see his expression changed from disoriented to shock. But why the sudden change?.

Brian

It was hard to stay focused while explosions were going off and the only things on his mind were Mia and the baby.  
The sirens tore him out of his daze making his head whirl around to see how close they were and whether it was an ambulance or the police. Brian couldn't take his chances. Although an ambulance would have been what he needed right now he couldn't risk it.  
With shaky fingers he grabbed the woman's shirt and pleaded. "No police, no policia! Por favour."  
Brian was desperate and ready to do anything to not jeopardize his and his family's life. So he fumbled through his pocket and handed the woman his wallet, which only contained three hundred dollars worth in foreign currency. He placed it in her hand and repeated. "Please, help me get away from here."

To make her understand what he meant he struggled to his feet holding on to her tight. It took him a moment to wait for his head to stop spinning and his vision to return but when he tried to take a few steps he almost jumped out of his skin because he couldn't put any weight on his injured leg even if he wanted to. He truly needed this lady to help him or he was doomed.

Behind them the sirens became louder and it was now clear that it was the local police.

With the woman's help he manage to mingle with the crowd, who soon got pushed away by the cops. Unnoticed he limped away muttering over and over. "Obrigada."

When they were far enough away to take a rest Brian tried to fumble out his phone but, as to be expected, the thing had been smashed together with his limbs. "Shit!" He groaned and pressed his palm against his sore temple.

The woman's face looked very confused and maybe even scared so Brian tried to explain. "Mia, my girlfriend….she's having a baby."

The throbbing in his head was so bad by now that he just wished he could sleep it off until it got better. It felt like somebody had taken a sledge hammer to his skull. Little spots flickered in front of his eyes and his vision faded again as all sounds got drowned out by silence.  
A second later the ex-cop dropped to the floor unconscious.

Mia

She understood when he said about the police. He seemed desperate to get out of there. She didn't took the money from his hands instead with the help of another person they removed the stranger from the ground as he collapsed.

For some reason this man seemed familiar to her. She tried to connect the dots and remember but it was impossible, maybe later she'd be able to remember. She hurried to her home, this man was very injured but still she could understand what was the reason she decided to help him but she'd make sure to find out who he really was…

Hospital  
Mia moaned as she slowly open her eyes and looked around the room. A new IV catheter was placed in her right arm and the TV was on with low volume. "Brian?" She called him maybe he was asleep next to her on that uncomfortable couch. She looked to see him but he wasn't there. Her eyes filled with tears... something was seriously wrong. She looked then at the TV, oddly enough the channel was on the news and she took the remote from the small table next to her bed and increased the volume, her fear rising each second as the words of a reporter started to let the viewers know about an accident not too far from where Mia was.

She blinked several times trying to see the car behind the reporter, her heart stopped from a moment and she sat up on the bed as she cried uncontrollably realizing the car was Brian. Was he dead? The car was a complete mess. "No, please no," she sobbed placing a hand on over her belly. The baby moved kicking one of her kidneys forcing Mia to take a deep breath.

Suddenly, a nurse entered the room to check on Mia and when she noticed how Mia was she hurried to her side begging her to calm down. "Let me out!" she screamed at the nurse yanking her catheter not feeling or seeing the bruise that was forming around her skin… forgetting the tear that threatened the life of both her baby and her own, forgetting the tear was starting to get bigger, forgetting that the possibilities of delivering a healthy baby without complications and saving her own life was starting to become a 50-50 chance...

Brian

Brian

Almost an hour later Brian slowly came to. First his hearing returned, then his vision and finally the pain set it making him wish he could simply pass out again. He couldn't decide what was worse his throbbing head which ached like a ton of bricks had come crushing down on it and made him nauseous or the left elbow that had swollen up to three times its original size. Desperately he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to go back to sleep but couldn't.

So he finally opened one of his pale blue eyes to take in the surroundings and beg for some ibuprofen but nobody was around. His eyes fell on unfamiliar looking furniture, the insides of a house he had certainly never been in. Everything was very simple with a small TV set on an old shelf and an overhead fan hissing on the ceiling.

For a moment he looked down at his leg, which was raised up on two large pillows. Somebody had rolled up his jeans and applied some ice. Dozily he let his eyes scan the doorway to the nearby kitchen from where he could hear sounds, and then looked at his had been wrapped but was bleeding through the white fabric and was placed in between a few bags of frozen peas on either side.

Slowly he figured out that he somehow must have had an accident but couldn't remember what on earth happened even if his life depended on it. Why was he injured, where was he and who had put the peas on his arm?  
These questions suddenly seemed so important that Brian cleared his throat and called out in a horse voice. "Hello? Excuse me?"

The little boy who came running into the room looked absolutely unfamiliar, so did the woman behind him. He was sure that he had never in his life seen these two.  
"Who the heck are you? And where am I?"

Mia  
The unfamiliar woman walked next to her son and touched his head; the boy sent a smile to Brian and turned around leaving the room. The woman by the name of Adelia held a glass of water; she bent down and helped him drink some water. "You had a car accident," she started to say even though by the look of his face he didn't understand a word she said. "Go back to sleep. You're still weak," She handed the small pill of ibuprofen. Hopefully, the medicine will ease his pain but she still had to find out who he was and who the heck was Mia?

Brian  
The dark skinned woman in her mid thirties spoke broken English but Brian's hearing and vision was so bad that he could barely understand what she was saying. All he could make out was 'accident' which sounded just about right judging by the multiple parts of his body that ached so much he just wanted to pass out again. Unfortunately his heart was beating so fast out of nervousness that there was no chance in hell he'd go back to sleep.

Brian reached for the small pill the woman was holding with his injured arm and started screaming in pain. Quickly he suppressed it but couldn't help but stare at his elbow in despair. It was obvious that whatever injury he sustained wouldn't go away by itself. Maybe he should go to a hospital...Somehow that thought seemed meaningful but he couldn't figure out why.

He reached for the pill with his other hand and swallowed it dry. It wouldn't do much but might provide some slight relief.  
Then he looked up at the strange woman. "Who are you? Why am I here?" He wondered.

Across the city the police were investigating the car crash. One victim had been found severely injured, the truck driver had run off and the third driver as well. Since the cause of the accident was still unclear search warrants were issued for both drivers.  
In the process Brian's car was searched for an engine number, which had been scratched off, to find the registered driver. The only leads came from a backpack in the trunk that contained a book in English, a few baby items and a wallet…it belonged to a woman named "Mia Toretto"

It turned out that said Mia Toretto was believed to be in car thefts in Rio but nothing had been proved. Reason enough for the cops to start searching for the American woman.

"You were involved in an accident," the woman said figuring out why exactly he was saying. She looked at the American swallowed the pill. She had to find a translator and fast. This man was getting worse, his elbow was inflamed and by the faces he made, he was in so much pain. "Go to sleep," she touched his forehead and noticed he was warm. She went to the kitchen and came back with new fresh water and a few bandages. Who could she call that spoke English as a second language? Who?

Mia woke up from her long sleep. She looked at the clock across from where she was. 4:30PM, had she been sleeping this whole time? Did the nurse give her a sedative? The last thing she remembered was screaming at the petite nurse that she needed to get out of there. But why? Oh, god…Brian. She had to find Brian… She sat on the bed and tried to stand up but she moved way too fast and her head started spinning, her belly seemed heavier than before. It would be pointless to run… She let her head fall back to bed with a loud sigh, for some reason her gaze started to look around the room where she found a phone. She reached for the small device and called the only friend and family in Rio she knew would help her… Rosa. Not even realizing cops were closer to find her…

Brian

Was it Brian's brain playing tricks on him or did she repeat herself. The woman was talking about an accident that he had absolutely no recollection off nor what else happened after he got out of bed this morning...

He watched the lady come back from the kitchen with some more supplies but when she sat down to unwrap his badly busted up arm he refused by shaking his head. "No, don't. There's nothing you can do to help. Please stop."

He tried his best to blend out the pain by thinking about how he came here. "Did you bring me here? Alone?"  
In his mind he went back to this morning...he had gotten out of bed and then walked down to the beach, where he saw Mia caressing her bulging belly in the morning sun...Mia!  
Instantly he shot up and demanded to know. "Where's Mia? Is she okay? Was she in the accident as well?"

Brian's gut dropped without warning. If Mia was involved in the accident she might be injured or dead and so might the baby.  
Fear got a tight hold on his heart as I pushed his legs off the couch and tried to stand up. Unfortunately the only thing getting into motion was his stomach, which spilled all it's contents onto the wooden floor boards beneath the ladies feet.

***

The nurse was coming in to check on Mia and noticed the look on her face. She gave her a genuine smile and placed her hand on Mia's arm. "Don't look so worried. You just have to stay put for a few days, then your baby will be fine." Her English was immaculate because she had spent an exchange year in England.  
"Is there anything you need?"

-  
The police had started calling local hospital to find people who had recently been admitted...Americans in particular. So far their search was for crash victims but the two hospitals had no such new admittances.  
"Maybe she wasn't in the car when it crashed." One of the cops said in Portugese.  
"Why was the wallet in the car then?"  
"She can't be far away, let's issue a search warrant!"  
Soon enough Mia's picture was being distributed to local police stations.

Mia

Mia couldn't stay in the hospital for a few more days, she had to find Brian, she had to know how he was.. the last thing she knew about him was the car accident he had and after that he disappear... Was he dead? The car exploded... How was he? Did he die inside the car victim of the fire? "You need to help me out of this place," she was desperate.

She took hold of the nurse's arm. "Please.. my boyfriend was involved in an accident, please help me find him, he's in danger same as me, please," She prayed the nurse changed her mind.

The American kept repeating the name 'Mia' over and over again, and to make things worse they were getting nowhere... their lack of not speaking the other person's language was not good. She picked up her phone and called her friend Rosa, she remembered Rosa telling her once about her now dead husband and their family coming to Rio and for some reason this guy fit the description of one of Vince family members. "I need your help and fast.." she hung up and turned to Brian.

"Help is on the way," she tried her best to pronounce a few words in English, it was as bad as his Portuguese hopefully he understood the few words she said. She brought a towel and offered it to him so he could wipe his mouth, also offering him a glass of water. Minutes later she came back to clean the floor.

Brian

The nurse wasn't quite sure what Mia was asking from her but she gave her a worried look at sat down on the chair next to Mia.  
"Listen, Miss Salenka. I cannot help you out of here. You have to calm down. That's very important for the safety of your baby."  
Patiently she waited until Mia's breathing returned to a more normal pace.  
"So your boyfriend was in an accident?" Her eyes shifted to the small TV in the corner of the room. "The one they showed on the news?" If that was the one she understood why the American woman was so worried. All cars had been squished like sardine cans and one even exploded.

"They sent an ambulance there. I can try and find out whether he's been admitted. What's his name? Or would you like me to call somebody else? Another relative? I can do that for you but you have to stay put my dear….wait a moment."  
With that she left the room just to return a few minutes later with a handset of a phone.  
"Here, be fast. I have to return it. It's our station phone."

As soon as his stomach turned upside down and the acid was burning up his throat on top of everything else that hurt Brian knew he was doomed. He hadn't felt this aweful in a long time and the fact that this woman didn't seem to understand him made things worse. Why on earth she hadn't dropped him off at a hospital remained a mystery to him but he understood that she was his only hope.

Grimacing he tried to explain that he was feeling awful and why the woman didn't drive him to a hospital but what was even more pressing was to find out what on earth had happened to Mia.

The thought that Mia might be in as bad of a shape as he was or worse and the baby's life might be on the line or worse made his throat choke up so badly he couldn't even drink any water. Mia was the only woman he could ever picture his life with. Even in the time they were separated she always held a special place in his heart and when she told him that she was pregnant he did not freak out or get scared but his heart jumped for joy. How could he possibly live without her?

With tears threatening to spill Brian once again tried. "Is Mia dead? Did she get killed in the accident? Muerto? Do you understand? Where is my girlfriend?"  
In desperation he ran his hand over his head where a nasty bump had formed.  
"Fuck!"  
If only he could get up and take the next best bus…but where? To the local police to find her?

Mia's phone…For a moment he held his breath trying to remember her number but the numbers kept changing and jumping in front of his inner eye until he got so frustrated that he kicked his good leg at the wooden coffee table.  
"Sorry…" He muttered in a low voice.

Mia  
The nurse held the phone to Mia, and she took it in her hands. Who could she call? She tried her best to remember Rosa's number she was the only person she knew in Rio that was family. "Hey Rosa, it's Vince's sister." She said hopefully Rosa recognize her voice. "Can you please come down to the hospital that's located downtown? I really need your help, obrigada" Rosa was her only hope. She hung up waiting for Rosa to hear the message. If only she knew where Rosa was at this moment.

"Thanks," she told the nurse with a smile filled with sadness. She felt trapped…

**  
The carioca woman stood there looking at Brian get all his anger out. Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a knock on the door, she quickly hurried to open the old door and there she was. "Thank you for coming, Rosa" she quickly explained to her friend how she found the American guy, but it was only when Rosa turned to see the blonde American that she recognized him.  
The woman went on to explain that he kept asking for some 'Mia'.

"Brian!" Her English improved since she first met a part of Vince's family. She decided to learn the language of her husband to communicate better in the future with his family and what better way to practice than now. She bent down and started to speak English. "Don't worry. We'll find her…" her cell phone started to ring letting her know a message was waiting for her to be heard. She quickly listened to the voice and quickly knew who was the person at the other end of the line begging her for help. "I know where Mia is," she said out loud.

Brian  
Whoever this woman would call wasn't going to help Brian unless she was a doctor so all he could do was sit and wait and endure the situation until ‚the friend' arrived.

When his pale blue eyes fell on the dark skinned woman he knew he had seen her before but couldn't immediately place her be it due to the concussion or because he'd only seen her once or twice.  
All the bigger was the surprise when she announced that she knew where Mia was.  
Brian's eyes widened as he tried to push himself up to sit up straight again. "Where is she? Is she okay?"  
His hopes that Mia was alive were peaking up but the look on the woman's face was still reason enough for concern.  
He reached for a hand to support him and tried to stand up. "Can you bring me to her?" He asked biting his lip to avoid a loud groan when he put his weight on his knee.  
"Let's go…tell me where she is…." Suddenly he blinked at her and stated."You're Rosa, right?"

The nurse, who had given Mia the phone returned half an hour later with a ctg machine. "Let's see if the baby is doing fine. Can you feel any contractions?"  
For some reason she felt empathy for this strange young American. Maybe it was because she had been a stranger in a country far away not too long ago and felt a little lost every now and then as well.

Carefully she pushed Mia's shirt up a little and attached a big gummi belt with some small round devices around her baby bump.  
"So did you get a hold the father of your child? Is he okay?" she asked innocently just to make conversation not knowing that Mia hadn't actually been talking to him.

The police had put their search on hold for now by asking the local hospitals to report back to them if any car crash victims were admitted within the next 48 hours.  
They were now starting to interview the truck driver, who had escaped the accident and had been treated by paramedics but was in good enough condition to tell them how it happened.  
The man was willing to help the police as his own life had been endangered by the driver of the passing car as well. When asked about the driver of the Nissan he shrugged but then stated in Portugese that he thought he saw him walk away with a carioca.  
"Search the area close to the accident site."

Mia  
"Yes, Brian. I'm Rosa," She tried to stop him. "The accident that you had was all over the news and I'm pretty sure by now, the police are searching for you or Mia, unless she gave a fake name,"

There was a moment of silence. Will he listen to her? Could he really understand the danger they were in if Brian was exposed out there and caught by the police, after all she knew very well what happened when Dom and the others came to Rio, their job they had to be finish and oh yes they finished but at what cost?

"It'll be easier for me to enter the hospital without being exposed, I can blend well. Do you remember the name she used before entering the hospital? If she used one..."

Mia

"Yes," she lied about Brian. "He's fine… and about the baby, I can feel her move but no contractions," she smiled hearing the baby's heart and that made her a little anxious, she wanted to have her child in her arms and then her thoughts went back to Brian. Her chances of finding him were starting to make her lose faith.

Once again her thoughts were now on Rosa. She wondered if Vince's wife listened to the message she left on her phone. What was she doing at this time? Did she even remember or cared about the Torettos?

Brian

It was hard enough to stand but hearing that Mia was in the hospital almost put Brian back on his butt. He felt his knees get weak. So Mia had been injured in the accident. Another thought dawned on Brian: Who had caused this accident. Was it maybe his fault that the love of his life was now in the hospital? (If only he knew!)  
"Is she injured badly?"**  
**  
It still didn't make sense why Mia would be taken to a hospital and he ended up on some strangers couch.  
"I'm sorry Rosa but I can't remember anything. I must have hit my head pretty hard." He admitted motioning for a large bruise on the right side of his head.  
If this accident was all over the news and cops were really looking for her she was in a lot of danger so Brian insisted. "I'm going with you. Let's go."**  
**  
If these two women thought they could keep him away from Mia they were totally wrong. He'd crawl there if he had to just to see how she was. If only he knew if the baby was alright but he didn't dare to ask. He needed to see for himself.  
In a stubborn attempt he started hobbling towards the door, which send waves of pain through his body and made his head seem to shut down. But he didn't give up until he reached the front of the house and saw the small old sardine box on four wheels that Rosa called her own.

At the hospital the steady thumps and swishy sounds gave away the heart and movements of the baby. The nurses eyes were fixed on a string of paper, which came out of the machine. She marked small peaks on the long print out.

"You might not feel them but each of these peaks as contractions."  
Of course she knew this would worry Mia, when there was nothing to worry about. "Don't get scared though. Everything's perfectly fine. Your body is just 'training'. That'll go on for a few weeks. The only thing we don't want is these contractions to become powerful and painful, alright? So be good and stay in bed…no 'I need to get out of here'." She gave her a reassuring smile and left her for a few minutes.

"I'll be back shortly. Press the button if you need anything."  
She then went on to check on one of the other three women in Mia's room now switching to perfect Portuguese.

Just when Brian was nearing Rosa's small car police sirens made him listen up and pull his head in. They weren't very close but somewhere around this part of town. He waved at Rosa to hurry up. "C'mon, get in the car."

Brian could barely fit in the passenger seat because it was such a small vehicle. He waved back at the woman, who had rescued him. "Thank you. I owe you." Then they were off and it seemed like Vince had taught his wife a trick or two.  
Just when they were about to pull onto one of the bigger roads they spotted a police car coming towards them so Brian sunk as low in his seat as he could hoping they wouldn't spot him.

The sirens got louder and louder until they were right beside them….


	6. Chapter 6

A fresh start 6

Mia

The nurse got out of the room and left her as she winced a little. Since when did she become a liar? And a good one. Her hand rested on her belly rubbing it softly as she groan feeling the contractions getting harder by the minute. She was scared, she knew the baby was coming anytime soon, forget the weeks! Oh, she was feeling the contractions… but still there was no word on Brian and the way she felt there was no way she could get out of the hospital. Could she still fake she was feeling wonderful? When all she felt was her heart rate increase and the sweat starting to form on her forehead. She turned to her side having a little bit of a small break from the pain. "I need you Brian… We need you," she said in a whisper as she buried her face in her pillow afraid a scream was going to tore from her throat.

**

Brian

Rosa looked at Brian's painful expression when she tried to hide from the cops. She tried to cover her nervous expression as she drove next to the police cars. When the cops didn't seem to pay attention to the Brazilian woman she sighed and parked looking around her so nobody would see her at one point helping an American. She turned to Brian "we need to play 'Halloween' once we entered the hospital," and the only way for her to do that was to get a hold of some hospital scrubs and a white robe… that is if they wanted to have quick access to Mia.

Brian was thankful for the local woman's help since she blended in so well. No cop would stop a beat up little rust bucket with Brazilian plates and nobody would ask her who she was.

He looked over the edge of the door to see a police car drive by in a very slow fashion. They were obviously searching for somebody and chances were it was him because his car was still at the accident site...but how did they find him? He had taken good care to remove the cassis and engine number. And why were they looking for him? had he caused the accident? Had he injured or killed somebody. Brian frowned at the thought but refrained from asking because his head hurt too much.

He leaned the side of his head against the heated up window. Brian's vision kept getting blurry and sometimes he wouldn't hear a thing. Every bump in the road made the pain his elbow flare up and shot into his shoulder and down to his fingertips. If he had a choice he'd pass out right now.

Instead his thoughts were with Mia. Silently he hoped she wasn't badly injured but if she was in a hospital her injuries had to be severe. He tried hard to not let his fear for her and the baby's life get the better of him.

When they finally reached the parking lot of the large hospital complex Brian crawled out of the car holding his injured arm close to his body. He could barely stand on his own two legs anymore. Still he instructed Rosa. "They might be searching the hospitals for me...tell them I'm Australian and that I fell off a ladder."

Slowly they entered through the door for the emergency unit, where Brian almost hit the ground because he couldn't walk straight anymore. Obviously he had hit his head harder than he thought and suddenly he felt anxiety grab a tight hold of him with its clammy claws. On one of the plastic chairs next to half a dozen other people waiting for treatment he started shaking like Aspen leaves.

A nurse who walked by took note of his state and asked him. "Você está bem?"  
Instead of waiting for an answer she reached under Brian's good arm to help him up and told him. "Venha comigo!"

She led both him and Rosa to one of the small emergency care rooms with a exam table, heart rate monitors and oxygen tanks. "Deite-se, o que aconteceu?"

Brian had no idea what she was saying but understood from her gestures that he should lay down. Feeling as bad as he did he didn't object but lay down on the cold steel table, and then muttered in a low, exhausted voice. "I fell off a ladder...roof."

His eyes were pleading the woman to help no matter how. His head was throbbing so badly that he was sure he had a severe concussion plus when he lay down he was starting to feel nauseous.

He motioned for the side of his head that was sporting a large bruise and swelling, then for his unprofessionally wrapped up arm. The woman nodded and while she shone a light in his pale blue eyes asked. "American?" The complete emergency room staff had been told to keep their eyes open for Americans.

"No. Australian." Brian groaned when the bright lit fell on his pupils.  
"We need CT. You in many pain?" Brian confirmed. "Sim."  
"So um moneto." She gave Rosa a looked and pushed past her to the supplies in plastic boxes on the wall.

While she was putting together her supplies and then went to an intercom to call for a doctor, Brian reached for Rosas hand to pull her close. "Go find Mia, now...please!"  
Brian simply couldn't shake the pictures of Mia possibly being badly cut up, her limps broken or possibly not able to breathe herself. Despite his pain he cared much more about his future wife's and babies well being. If he was fit enough he'd search her himself.  
The nurse came back and gave him a soft smile, then asked Rosa to stand back. In her hand she held an IV needle and disinfectant.

How much did Brian hate needles? More than rust buckets and that meant something but right now he was begging for relief so he nodded and watched her stick the needle in his vein, and then taped it down. Suddenly he felt his stomach turn upside down and before he could warn anybody what was left in his stomach spilled on the floor next to Rosas feet.  
A long pained groan escaped him when he rolled his head back on the table and pressed his eyes close. He wanted nothing more than Mia to be okay and by his side. If only Rosa could bring her to him. "Mia." He muttered under his breath.

Only three levels above him the nurse returned to Mia's room after 15 minutes to check the print out of the machine. Her eyes widened a little when she saw the slight peaks in the curve."You have contractions. See here?" She indicated the bumps, then ased Mia. "Can you feel them? Are they painful?" With ease she took off the belt and cables, then gave Mia a hand.  
"The doctor will have to have a look whether The baby is about to be born, okay?"  
She led the American to the door and asked. "Is your husband coming soon? Do you want to call him maybe?"

Mia

"Yes, I can feel them. A little painful…" the baby was about to be born? "What? No, not now I need my husband," pain ran through her veins. "Yes, I want to call him," the nurse handed Mia the phone and she called Rosa. "Please answer… you're my only hope," a few rings before she heard a 'Hello" in perfect Portuguese.

***  
"Thank god. What room are you located?" were Rosa's second set of words more like questions.

"8th floor," Mia replied. "Where is he?" her throat began to close but managed to speak. "Wait, what?" she finally realized where Rosa was when she answer about the floor she was located at. Her eyes grew wide when she heard Rosa tell her about Brian's condition. "I need to see him," she hung up the phone and stood up to fast just a sharp contraction hit her sending her to the floor, her knees receiving the impact first.

Brian

Rosa was almost on Mia's floor. The urgency in the young woman's voice made her speed up until she was huffing taking two steps at a time. Finally she stepped onto the hallway looking around for the room number she had told her.

After a brief knock she entered the room and found her friend pale and worried on the floor. Immediately she jumped to her help and pulled her back onto the bed. "What's wrong, Mia?" Without warning she enclosed the raven haired woman in her arms that were still slightly bloody from helping Brian into the hospital.

A second later the door swung open and the Brazilian nurse pushed a wheelchair in. "Hop in." She padded the chair when she noticed the guest. "Good, at least your friend is here. The doctor is ready for you."

"For what?" Rosa asked irritated in Portuguese.

In the emergency unit Brian was finally getting some relief due to the pain killer he was getting. The doctor had order and CT and x-rays of his knee and elbow. Even though the pain was slightly duller and more bearable Brian wasn't feeling any better. Loneliness took over as he waited for all the scans to be done and couldn't help but think of Mia all the steps of the way. If only Rosa would come back soon and tell him whether she was 'okay'.  
Half an hour later he was waiting for the results to come back…or Rosa.

The emergency room staff was faster presenting him with the result. "You've suffered a severe concussion but so far no signs of bleeding. We have to closely monitor you to make sure you don't get any brain bleeding."

Brian had a hard time understanding the strong accent plus the drugs were making his brain foggy. So he only nodded and blinked a few times. Then the man pinned a black and white picture of Brian's bones in front of a lamp. "Your knee will be okay within a few days…it's just bruised but look at this…" He indicated a small gap in what seemed to be the picture of his elbow. For a second Brian held his breath wondering what was to come now even though he knew his arm was busted up badly just from the feel of it.

" There's a fracture here and here and a tear in the tendon connecting to it…You'll need surgery here because that won't heal properly with just a cast." It took him a moment to process the words, and then he gasped…

Mia

The contractions kept coming each second, and the only thing she could do was bit her lip so she wouldn't scream. She felt without energy, was that even normal? Then she noticed Rosa's arms covered with blood but Mia was sure it wasn't hers. "Where's Brian, Rosa? Now she was scared.

"He'll be alright," the Brazilian woman told Mia helping her to the wheelchair.

"What do you mean, he'll be all right. Ow" the contractions intensified and she found herself pushing, anesthesia at this point was useless. The baby had to be born.

Rosa had to go back to Brian but couldn't leave Mia all by herself. "I don't think I'll make it," Mia's voice filled with fear. In that moment she didn't care if she died giving birth because all she wanted was her baby to be okay and healthy throughout all the process Brian was in the back of her mind.

Brian

"Oh yes, you'll make it and so will Brian." Together With Rosa the nurse helped Mia in the wheelchair, which was quickly pushed down the hallway to a part of the maternity ward behind a large glass door that said "Ring bell." The nurse pushed that door open and Mia inside into a small room where a doctor greeted her.

Immediately he noticed the anxiety in her face and placed his hand on her arm. "Don't stress yourself out. We'll just have a look and see whether you're getting ready to give birth or not. If that can be prevented somehow we'll do it because you're still a few weeks early."  
The older man's face was stern but not overly worried. It'd didn't give up much.  
Rosa had stepped behind Mia but her hand never left her shoulder.  
The man soon confirmed. "Those contractions are effective. Prepare yourself for the baby to arrive within the next few hours."

With that he offered her his hand and left to go on to the next patient.  
Rosa could tell that judging by the pained expression on Mia's face this birth was going to be fast so she squeezed her shoulder. "Mia, you'll be okay. The baby will be okay." Would Brian be able to be there with her though? Was he fit enough to support her in any way?  
"I'll see if I can get him. If not I'll be back in 10 minutes, no longer, okay?" From her own birthing experience she knew that it would take several hours for the baby to be delivered.  
The nurse gave her a reassuring nod and said. "It takes a while, try to preserve your strength."With that Rosa gave Mia a quick peck on the cheek and left…outside she started running as fast as she could though, this time taking the elevator that she disliked so much.

In the emergency unit Brian's mind was too clouded to worry too much about anything. He wanted some relief and fast, so he agreed to the surgery and scribbled his name onto the paper without remembering not to put down his real name.  
By now his arm had been placed in an immobilizer with a sling to provide some preliminary support.

"Okay." The man took the pen and paper from Brian's hand. "We'll prep you for surgery and go in when the first operating room becomes available."  
Whatever that meant…Brian didn't care as long as he wasn't in so much pain anymore.  
Suddenly Mia came to his mind again and on cue he heard Rosa's voice behind the curtain in the hallway asking for him.

A moment later her face popped into the curtain, where the doctor told her in Portugese. "You can't just come in here." With a no-nonsense expression the woman replied. "I'm with him and yes, I can, because his wife is giving birth right now up there."  
At first Rosa's words made no sense to Brian. Mia wasn't due for a few weeks and she was here because of the accident, right? In confusion he met Rosa's gaze. "Was she hurt in the accident?"

A split second later he realized what this meant. Mia was in labor and about to have HIS baby all alone. She was probably crying or up in arms…and Brian wasn't there to support her through this most crucial time in her life. Without further thought he sat up and pushed himself off the table. "I have to be with her." He slurred.

"Wait No, you can't!" A nurse objected but Brian was already swaying to the door. Whatever was in that IV he was pulling behind him did the trick and made him feel like a drunken sailor.

"You have a severe concussion, you have to lay down."If there was one thing Brian was it was stubborn and he had his mind set on not leaving Mia alone.

Mia

"Hurry," Mia said. Her eyes never left Rosa until she turned left and disappear from her sight. She was excited, nervous and in pain. The way her body reacted was amazing; it was a really hard thing to explain. Her breath was a little fast, her hands were shaking.

She slowly moved to her side to lessen the pain a little more. She let her mind wonder for a moment. Making a check list in her mind of what things they had for the baby and what things she didn't have. It was a funny situation to be.

She then thought about the day when she talked with Brian about baby names. Was the baby a Jacob? A girl maybe? Was she/he going to have dark hair just like her? What about her eyes? Or Brian's eyes? Will the baby have Brian's smile? She was going to find out in a few hours.

She looked at the hall and saw no sign of Rosa or Brian. Will they be here in time? What about her brother? She was going to kick Dom's ass for missing his niece or nephew's birth, she was going to make sure of that one.

Brian

The staff tried their best to talk Brian out of leaving the emergency room but ultimately it was his decision. Seeing that his desire to be with his wife was stronger than his care for his own well being, they offered Rosa a wheel chair to push him and placed the infusion with saline and pain killers in his lap. "As soon as your baby is born you come back here and if the pain in your head intensifies you come back right away. Understood?"  
Brian nodded. The American would have agreed to just about anything.

A moment later Rosa was pushing him along the hallway and into the elevator. He watched the doors fly by wishing he could somehow speed up.  
For second he became nauseous again but was able to fight it off.

When the elevator door opened with a bing he could hear a baby scream and instinctively had to smile. Brian didn't want his child to be early born but he still couldn't wait to meet her or him. If only Mia was alright.

Rosa wheeled him to the room where she left Mia, opened the door and when she was asked to enter pushed the bruised and battered ex-cop inside.  
As soon as his blue eyes fell on Mia's pale face all his own pain was washed away. He could feel his eyes water up against his will.

Immediately he reached for her hand and gasped. "Are you okay? Is our baby okay? Were you injured?" He knitted his brow because he had needed an answer to these questions for hours.

Mia

She squeezed his hand and embraced him, her arms tighter around his neck; she cried burrowing her face in his shoulder. "I was so scared," she blurted in between sobs. She was still shaking in his arms so she forced herself to stop crying and stop shaking. "Yes, I am ok. I wasn't in the accident and the baby is ready to be born," she took a deep and long breath as she prepared for the next big contraction.

"Forget about me for a second. Honey, you look like crap," her finger caressed the edges of his wounds as if the wounds were going to close immediately.

Brian

The relief to see his love unharmed and hear that the baby wasn't injured was unbelievable. All the tension that had Brian on the edge since he was at the Brasilians home seemed to vanish with that one hug from Mia. Holding her as tight as he could he burried his nose into the crease of her neck before he kissed her.

But the she started crying, which broke his heart. He could handle many things but not when Mia cried, which really didn't happened often.  
Gently he rubbed her back with his good hand and tried to calm her down.

She confirmed that she wasn't in the accident, which made another rock drop from his chest. The thought that he might have hurt her and their baby had been cruel. "I'm so glad. I thought I had gotten you injured."

Her next words made Brian gasp 'the baby is about to be born'. "What now? But it's too early. He's not due for another five weeks or so." Instantly the rock was back and even heavier.

Mia tried to figure sooth him but Brian could see the pain on her features when she had a contraction.

"Never mind. I'll be fine….but you can't have the baby now." Behind them Mia's nurse entered to check the most recent print out. "Well, she will, there are no two ways about it."  
A mixture of fear and excitement washed over him. The baby was going to be born but would he be alright?

Uneasily Brian shifted in his chair, then reached for Mia's hand and interlaced his fingers with her. "I'll be with you every step of the way, okay?" If only his head wasn't throbbing so badly so he could actually be of some help to her.

In the main office a desk clerk came across Brian's name as he was entering the new admittances into the system. His eyes wanderer over to a fax that the local police had sent over with a list of names they were investigation in relation to a car crash: Mia Toretto, Brian O'Conner, Dominic Toretto amongst a few others. The second name matched the one on his screen so he picked up the phone to call the local police and let the main desk know that he found came across one of their suspects.

Mia

Her fear intensified a little when the nurse announced she had to deliver the baby now. She knew he could see the fear consumed her for a few seconds and she was glad when he reach for her hand and interlaced his fingers. "I know you'll be there. There's no need to tell me," she smiled and looked at Rosa sending her one of her big smiles. "Thank you so much,"

The day she's been waiting for was finally here. "Ok. Let's do this," she finally said looking at the nurse.

Brian

Despite the medication dulling his pain Brian's heart started racing when Mia was brought to the birthing room. A nurse pushed him inside as well but gave him a worried look. "Shouldn't you maybe get treatment yourself? The brith will take a few hours…can you handle that?"

There was no way in hell Brian was leaving Mia's side right now. They would have to carry him out. "I'm good." He lied. "I'm staying!"He gave Mia's hand a reassuring squeeze.  
When she started breathing heavily and scrunching up her pretty face he got worried though. "Is that normal?"

He gently ran his hand along her arm. "Stay calm, Mia."

Mia

He didn't look okay to Mia but also understood where he was coming from. It was easy for him to tell her to stay calm when the pain was bearable sometimes, but to keep herself from screaming she tried to think of other things. Her stress level went up and it finally sunk in where she was and what she was doing. She felt heavy pressure inside her and started to become tired.

The pain intensified and she pushed as hard as she could sweat beads were running down her forehead and tears filled her eyes. Exhausted as she was, she had to deliver the baby now. She couldn't speak so the only thing she could do was hold Brian's hand tighter. Purple spots danced in her vision…No! This couldn't be happening; she couldn't pass out not when her baby wasn't born.

Brian

The birth took so long that Brian had his doubts he would make it himself. The painkillers they had given him were slowly wearing off and his mindnumbing headache and the searing pain in his elbow returned. Yet Brian didn't tell anybody because he felt it was only fair that he'd stay by her side since he was the one who got her into this situation in the first place. Why not share the pain?

Uneasily he shifted in the chair but couldn't help for Mia's and his own pain to be over soon.  
His nervousness grew because he was aware that their child might be very small. What if he wasn't healthy? He could feel beads of sweat build on his forehead.  
"Damn, does Dom know?" He suddenly asked.

After 4 hours Mia squeezed his hand so tight it brought him out of his daze and he looked over just to see how pale and exhausted she looked. The midwife, who was still at her side kept saying soothing words and handed her a banana and some water to regain some energy.

She checked Mia and nodded. "Alright, you're getting there. Now start pressing…"  
The way Mia's pulse was plummeting didn't look good so she ran for a doctor but still kept her eye on the woman.

***  
The note that a 'Brian O'Conner" had been admitted to a hospital had been placed on the sergeants desk and just sat there for a while until he returned to the desk and got a little excited. "Bingo!" He shouted.

Then he went to find his colleague to make a trip to the local hospital, hopefully to bring home a man that had been on the most wanted list for months.

Mia

She didn't feel good at all and all she could was keep squeezing Brian's hand, her heart rate wasn't normal at all and the thought of her baby not being able to come into this world was killing her. She reached for the water and banana with shaky hands… Could  
that water and banana make her feel good when her energy was gone?

"Why isn't the baby out? What's wrong?" she panicked looking at the midwife call for a doctor. "Get her out!" she nearly shouted it wasn't the pain but she could feel her body reacting differently. "Please…" she begged as hot tears fell down her beautiful face.

Brian

The nurse gave her a stern look and told her. "Drink that water, please."  
She knew Mia was worn out and tired but she had to get the baby out soon or her own health was at risk. "Your blood pressure is too low."

"Well do something!" Brian pleaded and stood up because he was too nervous to stay on his butt and just watch. Unfortunately his head didn't cooperate and he stumbled against the next best shelf.

The nurse turned her attention on him a little stressed out. "You just stay seated and make sure you're not causing us any trouble here."Brian replied with a frown and nursed his broken arm while a doctor came rushing in, checked Mia over and ordered.  
"Okay, let's get this baby out now." He positioned himself in front of Mia while the nurse stood next to her.

On and on they told Mia to breathe in different patterns and press when the contractions came. Soon he held a small, wiggling creature in his hands. The doctor gave the baby a small clap and a tiny scream filled the room. He then handed the kid to the nurse, who briefly check it, then placed it on Mia's chest.

As soon as the doctor held his baby in his hands Brian felt overwhelmed with joy. There he or she was. Brian couldn't tell yet and was too choked up to ask. He felt tears of joy fill his eyes and stepped closer to get a better look, then gently caressed Mia's arm.  
"You've done amazing, Mia." Against his will a tear of joy ran down his cheek while a smile spread on his lips. "I love you soo much!"

Mia

She reacted until Brian spoke and that's when she heard the tiny cry of her child. "I love you too," she said between tears of joy. She wanted to see her baby, to kiss and never let go. The nurse took too long to let her see for the first time their child. Would it be a boy or a girl? The cries subsided and saw her baby being wrapped in a yellow blanket. She placed her head on his good shoulder and smiled wiping away Brian's tears. "Thank you," she gave him a quick kiss and waited with Brian to finally see their child.

It was a beautiful moment that neither Brian nor Mia were going to forget, nothing else matter for her in that instant, not even half of Rio chasing them. "I'm so gonna kick Dom's rear end for missing the birth of his nephew or niece?" she left the question in the air. She turned to the nurse waiting for her to answer.

Brian

"Where is Dom?" He wondered whether Mia had given him a call.

Brian leaned in to give her another kiss and run his thumb over the babies tiny hand. The whole hand wasn't much bigger than his finger.

Those little eyes, wrinkled skin, tiny little nose. There was even some hair stuck to the scalp. The moment was priceless. With all the love in the world Brian looked down at their child and its mother when he heard the nurse say. "It's a girl. What's going to be her name?"

Right now it didn't bother Brian at all that he didn't get the little tough boy he had wished for. Gently his kissed the small forehead with his chapped lips. Then his eyes met Mia's. "You've done all the work, you get to choose."  
He simply couldn't take his eyes off his little girl, which had to be the most fragile looking but at the same time most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on.

The joy about the child could only block out the massive pain he had been enduring for hours so long. Silently Brian sat back down in the wheel chair pressing his palm to his temple.

The doctor gave him the once over and stated. "I think you've done your duty. Which station did you escape?"

"Emergency." Brian muttered, which caused the man to raise his brow and make a call for somebody to come and get Brian, who didn't have the energy to object now that both his baby and Mia were fine.

The midwife handed the newborn to another nurse. "We'll have to place her in an incubator for a while. She's so early that she won't be able to maintain her body heat."

Mia

"I called and left a message but right now you need help," her eyebrows drew together as she saw Brian feeling the effects of the pain of the horrible car crash coming back. She looked at the midwife taking her baby girl to an incubator and she wished she could stay with her but it was for her best, her attention was now back to Brian and even though she felt exhausted from giving birth she had the strength to squeeze Brian's hand. "We'll be waiting for you," seeing nurses rushing in and take him back to the emergency room.

She was still debating in her mind for a perfect name for her child but her tiredness won this time and she fell asleep praying for Brian and knowing that her baby was in perfect hands.

Brian

Brian couldn"t forget their daughters tiny face for one second while he was being wheeled down the hallway even though the adrenalin and excitement had worn off and left him in a world of exhaustion and pain.

The emergency room staff found the fact that he chose to wait until the baby was born bewildering but tried to speed the wait up as much as they could.  
The painkillers they gave him allowed the ex-cop to drift off into a light sleep reminiscing about Mia and their daughter. Silently he wondered what name his love would choose for the tiny girl.

Half an hour later he was in a sterile, terrifying operation theatre dressed in a simple white hospital gown rather than the blood stained jeans and shirt he had worn but couldn't care less because his thoughts were with his girls.

His arm was unwrapped and placed on the table and when his sweat soaked blonde head rolled to the side Brian got a good glance of it for the first time, which made him thankful that doctors were about to take care of it…otherwise he might not be racing a car ever again. He needed two good arms for that.

Somebody said something in Portuguese and fumbled around on his IV. Next thing he knew Brian woke up but was barely able to open his eyes because he was so groggy.  
He failed two or three times before his eyes would even focus. Slowly he let them wander around and felt for his arm, which was embedded in a hard white plaster cast. Apparently the operation was over and his shattered limb fixed.

Mia

She opened her eyes from her deep sleep welcoming the new world in front of her. For a second she didn't recognize where she was but the pain through her body was felt when she tried to sit up, that's when she remember where she was exactly. She could hear the cries of the babies a few feet from her and she smile thinking of her own. When was she going to be able to hold her little girl? What name was she going to give her child? She hadn't thought about a name not when Brian could be still in surgery. How was he? Was there any way for her to find out? She pushed the button calling a nurse.

After negotiating for a few minutes the nurse agreed to take her to where Brian was. The nurse helped Mia to sit in a wheelchair and was taken to Brian's room. He found him lying on the bed, his face so peaceful, his feature didn't say: worry, pain or fear. Their hospital gowns match the only difference was that Mia was wearing some Yoga pants making her more comfortable. She sat there with a baby book in her hands that the nurse provided her with and still she couldn't decide what name to choose.

Her concentration was broken when saw Brian trying to open his eyes several times until he frantically searched for his arm. "You're okay," she spoke softly to him taking his hand and with her other hand running her fingers through his blonde hair. "Good morning sleepy head," he looked so damn sexy when he was all groggy.

Brian

His attention switched from his sore arm to the woman who had taken his hand and was now greeting him with a smile. "Mia. How are you doing?" He croaked with a throat that seemed to be made of sandpaper.  
Did she ever look beautiful with her long locks dangling loosely around her shoulders? Tired but beautiful.

A smile played on his lips because everything seemed to be falling into place and they were both mostly okay. It took him a moment to piece the puzzle of what happened back together. Then the face of their baby girl came back to his mind. Where was she?  
"Where's our girl?" He asked lifting his head to see whether she might be in Mia's arms, where he found nothing. Mia's calm, friendly attitude made him feel that he needn't worry. Yet he asked. "Is the baby okay?"

Brian eyes drifted close again for a moment, when he couldn't fight the tiredness. His head and arm didn't hurt as much right now but were definitely sore. If Mia wasn't here he'd surely try to sleep some more to evade the inevitable pain that would come when he completely came to. But soon he regained the will to open his pale blue eyes and looked at Mia again with one important question. "What's her name?"

Mia

"I'm fine," her voice sounded tired but that didn't stop her to lean and kiss his head, she had a little bit of pain but it all disappear when she was with him.

"You're daughter is still in an incubator regulating her temperature, I haven't been able to see her and I'm dying to see her," and the way she said made it evident how uneasy she felt. That's why he had to see him, so she could be at peace for a moment.

She moved the wheelchair closer to the bed placing her head on his chest closing her eyes for a second. "I don't want to go back to my room, I want to stay here with you," she confessed pouting like a little girl and then chuckled and raised her arm with the baby book in her hands answering his last question. "I can't decide for a name,"

Brian

A smile played on his lips when he heard her. He tried to scoot up a little so he could see her better but leaning on his elbows was a very bad idea as pain flared up in the broken one despite the cast. Brian flinched back and groaned louder than he actually wanted to allow himself. Then again he was sure that Mia didn't mind as he had just watched her scream and groan her head off and she knew he wasn't a whimp.

"So she just needs to be warm, that's all?" Brian needed to confirm that the little baby was alright, better than her parents anyway. She was quite early and who knew what sort of complications that could mean. "But she's healthy, right?"

When Mia snuggled up to him he decided to stop asking questions that would probably worry her. He just needed to wait and see. Instead he placed his good hand on her hair and ran his fingers over her head. "I know, Mia. I want you to stay here as well."

His fingers interlaced with hers again as he kissed her hand and whispered. "I was so scared that you were in the accident, too and had been injured. I have no recollection of the past day or so." Brian started wondering how much time he had actually forgotten.  
"I was scared that I might have injured you or our baby."

The thought was overwhelming and brought tears to his eyes, which threatened to fall. "I love you both so much." With that he leaned his head against hers and took in their moment together.

Mia

"Don't hurt yourself, honey." She lifted her head from her chest and pushed him gently to the bed. "I'm going to file a complaint to this hospital; they should have king size beds. Hopefully, the nurse will let me stay with you a little longer," she laughed.

She went back to the same position with her head on his chest, "Yes, I spoke to the doctor before I got here and he said it'll be a couple of weeks before her temperature will start to be at a normal level, but she's healthy. I'll see her tomorrow that is if the nurse let me, I had to argue a little with her to let me see you," But then the conversation took a turn starting with a smile and ending with tears…

"Hey ,hey," she gently said taking his face in her hands forcing him to see her. "Don't torture yourself with something that didn't happen, okay? I wasn't there and nothing bad happen to me or the baby, I'm just so thankful you're okay. I just can't imagine if…" she turned her gaze to the huge window that provided a wonderful sight of Rio, her own eyes burning with tears. She buried her face in his chest controlling her emotions.

She slowly stood from the wheelchair and sat on the bed next to him leaning down drowning her tears in a kiss. Pouring out their emotions the moment their lips met not wanting to let go of him.


	7. Chapter 7

**A Fresh Start  
Chapter 7  
**

**N/A**: Enjoy this new chapter and let us know what you think of it. Also, we need a DOM please send your sample writing via PM [Private Message] please! Thank you.

Brian

Brian must have fallen asleep with Mia next to him because when he woke up again the room was dark. The only light came in through the windows from some street lamps. Mia's dark hair was spread over his chest like a second shirt.

Slowly he pushed himself up a little but his shifting made her groan so he stopped.  
For a moment the American just lay in the hospital bed and listened to her breathing. Despite the dull pain in his arm he was happy. Mia was alright and they had just become parents. How much better could it be?

Yet he felt the need to go to the bathroom and carefully pushed her onto the pillow next to him while he shifted away. Even that little motion had the pain in his elbow flare up like fire.  
When he looked over he saw that his IV was gone, which was probably the reason he wasn't feeling so nice and numb any more.

Nevertheless he slowly sat up and placed both bare feet on the ground. His first attempt to stand up failed but the second one worked. His arm felt awkward in the cast that held it at a 90 degree angle and he could already tell that the thing would soon drive him crazy. As Brian walked to the door he could hear voices down the corridor so he poked his head out and almost had a heart attack. Two men in uniform were walking towards his door from further down the hall.

Immediately he pulled his head back and cursed. "Shit!" His heart was hammering in his chest when he ran over to Mia to wake her up by shaking her and searched for an escape route. The only way out was the window, which was luckily only on the first floor.  
"Quick, Mia. There are cops out there. Wake up, Mia. We have to run!"  
Even if they just found her they'd connect the dots and probably arrest her for interrogation.

***  
Mia

One moment she was kissing him and sleeping next to him and then he was shaking her desperately for her to wake up. "What the…" she started to say not really understanding his words until that four letter word came out of his lips. "Damn it, we do have to run...but for how long?" still she didn't hesitate to stand up and try to find a quick route.

"What about our daughter?" she froze not wanting to follow Brian, she just couldn't. "I don't want to leave her but I don't want you to go again…" The officer's footsteps were getting closer and closer. Her feet were glued to the ground but force herself to move following Brian out the window.

She looked at the closed door that led to the hall of the hospital and with a knot in her throat and against her own wishes she stayed behind Brian. At least to make sure he was in a safe place before going back to the hospital to get her baby girl.

***  
Brian

For a moment Brian was terrified that Mia wouldn't follow him and the cops would get a hold of her. She had a good point with the baby but for now their little one was safe and nobody knew about her so he decided to jump.

The drop was higher than he thought and his bruised knee didn't appreciate the impact. Neither did his arm or head so he couldn't help but groan in pain when he landed in some dry brush.

A moment later Mia was at his side. So he grabbed her wrist and struggled to his feet.  
Like a rabbit he was changing directions in between bushes and trees, stumbled and crawled further until they were far enough away and in the dark so nobody could see them.  
Then he allowed himself a Mia a moment to catch his breath. Desperately he wrapped his arm around her. "How did they find me? I must have told them my real name….shit. What about you? Can they possibly know you're here?" Why would their moment of happiness not last longer that a few minutes? Maybe that's what you get for being fugitives.

***

Mia

She felt his hand around her wrist and stood up running with him, they didn't stop until they didn't hear a thing of footsteps or even cars passing by. Her arms tightened around his abdomen pressing her head to his shoulder. She suppressed her anger that started to rise within her. She was getting sick and tired of running; it was not only them running but now that the baby was born. Mia was more alert; she bit her lip before looking up at him to answer his question. She didn't want him to see something was bothering her. "No, I don't think they'll be able to recognize me unless…" remembering she gave her ID to Brian.

"What about our IDs? I gave mine to you that day at the store after I fainted." She sigh and sat on the ground closing her eyes for a moment waiting for someone to wake her up from this dream but she opened her eyes, it wasn't a dream.

***

Brian

"You gave yours to me?" Brian answered because he had no recollection of anything around the time of the accident.

Breathing hard he followed her example and sat down on the dried out soil. "I can't remember. It wasn't on me when that lady found me though, I think. It must still be in the car…"The car that was still somewhere out there on the road, smashed to pieces.  
"That's how they found me." Brian gasped.

He didn't carry any form of ID himself any more but they must have connected the points.  
"The cops must have found yours in the car and then put out a search warrant for you, me and Dom. Since there was a crash they probably sent it to all hospitals."  
His eyes found hers. "Did you tell the hospital your real name? Because if you did…they have our daughter!"

The thought alone made his chest tighten until he could barely breathe. Terrified Brian gasped. "Please tell me you weren't as stupid as I was."

***  
Mia

His reaction was something new for Mia to see and only to hear him panic and his words 'please tell me you weren't stupid as I was'. "Brian, stop!" she literally turned to him shaking him a little by placing her hands in her shoulders. "I didn't give them my real name,"

"She'll be fine, ok? I need to contact Rosa so she can take you to her house in the mean time I need to go back to the hospital and take Sienna out of there, ok?" For the first time she revealed the baby's name, after looking and looking through baby books she couldn't find one that define her child other than Sienna and even though it wasn't a wonderful time right now she had to keep him calm.

There was no time for her to shatter too; it didn't work out that way. This time it was her turn to keep him calm as she knew he would do the same if she needed that someone to stop her if she panicked just like now.

"We'll get through this," after a moment of silence she spoke. Her voice firm and not breaking although she was shaking in the inside.

***

Brian

Mia's words somewhat eased his mind but the fact that their baby was in the hospital alone without one of them nearby or even able to get to her terrified him.

When Mia told him their child's name for the first time Brian fell silent and simply looked at her. Then he spoke it like it was some secret password that nobody was ever supposed to hear…quietly and gently. "Sienna. That's an awesome name for her. It suits her perfectly."  
Even now he had to smile and squeeze Mia. "great choice.

"Sienna Toretto…or would she be an O"Conner? He had to shake the thought quickly because they didn't have much time for a break. The cops would soon follow them so Brian got up and nodded.

"Let's contact Rosa. I think we can trust her."Together they stumbled further away through the bushes on the dry, dusty soil. Both of them didn't wear shoes and the thorny bushes pricked them in their feet making their walk even more difficult despite their physical condition.

From their position on the hills they could see the parking lot and a the entrance.  
"I'm not sure whether it's safe for you to go back inside."

He cupped her face with one hand to turn her chin towards him so he could kiss her .  
"Make sure she's okay. Her safety and health comes first."

***

Mia

"I'll be fine," she tried to ease his nerves but she felt those same nerves and a little bit of fear but her most important treasure was inside that place and it was Sienna.

She took one more look at him and kissed him passionately before she nodded to his words and walked slowly to the hospital. She looked at her feet, a little blood was on them from walking without shoes, she had to hurry inside a restroom on the first floor so she could clean her feet.

She walked picking up the pace until she found a restroom looking behind her and thank god there was no blood trail on the white floor of the hospital, she hurried and wash her feet wincing a little as the soap made contact with her small wounds taking a paper towel she removed the drops of water so she wouldn't fall once she got out of where she was.

She walked into the elevator and hurried to where her room was to wear her tennis shoes so the walking became easier, she then entered the elevator one more time pressed number 3 on  
the panel.

The doors opened and she was greeted by a single cry of a baby in an incubator, the pink blanket around her indicated it was her daughter and also the only baby in an incubator.

Her hand pressed on the glass that separated mother and daughter and her eyes welled up with tears taking a first look at her daughter, exotic skin just like Mia, brown hair and blue eyes, she smiled looking at her little nose definitely Brian's.

A nurse passed by and she couldn't resist so she stopped the nurse and asked if she could come in the room, the nurse smiled to her and gesture with her hands for Mia to follow her, placing a face mask and a blue gown before the nurse gave her before entering the room.

She entered slowly, her heart pounding loudly inside her chest, an unexplainable happiness running through her bloodstream stopping in front of the incubator.

"Sienna… you're so perfect," she whispered to her baby girl, she wanted to hold her and just to see her in the incubator killed her, two man stopped in front of the room to contemplate the babies inside, Mia's eyes grew wide but quickly focus her gaze on her Sienna, her stomach lurched as she saw the two police men walking around the floor she was in. Were they looking for her too? Her gaze never came back up afraid the cops would recognize her, her hands felt sweaty under the white gloves she wore but one thing she couldn't do again was go without Sienna in her arms.

Brian

A hand lightly touched Mia's shoulder. It was the nurse that had let her inside the room. She motioned for the two cops and said. "There are two police officers outside, who want to speak to you."

The two patiently waited until she came outside. In Portugese they asked her. "According to your patient record you're American. We are looking for an American man by the name of Brian O'Conner." He held up a printed out picture of Brian. "Do you know this man?"  
The nurses eyes fell on the picture and widened but she never said a work.

Brian felt the kiss linger on his lips when Mia ran away to make her way back into the hospital to be with their baby daughter. It tore Brian apart not to be able to go back in there with her to be with them but he needed to make sure that he didn't get caught if he ever wanted to be with them.

Silently he hobbled down the hill over the hard soil, stones and brush until he found a spot behind a group of bushes just above the parking lot where he could hide until Rosa would show up after Mia called her.

He sat down and tried to slow down his nervous breaths hoping that Mia would call her soon because the longer he waited the bigger the chances that the cops would find him. Hopefully his future wife got a hold of Vince's widow. If she didn't show up soon Brian would have to run and hide somewhere else which was difficult since he wore nothing but a hospital gown and sported a very impractical cast.

The minutes passed by and all he could think about was the birth. The pain Mia had been in, his fear that the baby would somehow be injured and then that beautiful tiny creature that was his daughter. He longed to hold her and kiss her. Brian needed to find a way to do that.

***

Mia

There was no need to see the young nurse reaction next to Mia. To her surprise she didn't speak about seeing Brian. She looked at the picture and frown she then look at the two officers standing in front of her. "Yes, I am an American. But, I haven't seen this man,"

Her words didn't sound fake, she was a wonderful actress. She wasn't a good liar either but in that moment she became a wonderful one. "But if I see him, I'll be more than happy to let you all know," This was good; if they were questioning about just Brian then they didn't see her ID… right?

"I am so sorry officer, I just have a few minutes to be with my daughter and I'd love to have those last minutes with her," she didn't wait for them to give her an answer she just turn to the nurse and pretended to ask about the baby.

The nurse followed her inside the room where all the newborn were. "Listen to me, I need your help. I need to know how good is my daughter so I can take her out of here, and please you cannot say a word about seeing Brian, please" her voice was more a plea than a question, Mia's nails dig into the nurse's arm.

She wanted to take her daughter out of the hospital but was afraid of what might happen if she wasn't told her baby was okay to go out of that place.

***  
Rosa's car came into view; she started to go around the parking lot trying to spot Brian. She knew Mia was inside, but for now she needed to take Brian out of there and take him to her home because she had to come back for Mia.

"Where are you?" she whispered to herself her eyes kept searching for the blonde ex cop.

***  
Brian

The nurse told the police men in Portuguese. "Sorry but the baby needs peace and quiet and her mother. Would you please leave now?"

The men watched Mia carefully but then decided to leave. Without a warrant they couldn't arrest random Americans. So they turned and walked away.

From his position behind the bushes above the parking lot, where Brian was sitting on his heels hugging his knees to keep warm, he could see the small car circling around and around. He hadn't paid close attention to Rosas car before but this had to be it. So he carefully made his way down when he spotted the police car with it's engine running. there had to be a cop inside.

He opted for a spot that was as far away from the police car and well conceiled behind a big bus to wait for Rosas next circle.  
Then he tip toed his way there and as soon as she stopped climbed in, fell in the passenger seat in his pretty night gown and told her to "Go. Go. Go! there are cops here!"

"What about Mia?" The Latina wanted to know. So Brian worked against the lump in his throat and answered. "She'll stay with our baby."

The small car drove away slowly but surely and Brian let his head fall back against the head rest.

The further they got away from the hospital the more it hit him that he had just abandoned his future wife and kid. So, despite his overwhelming pain, he asked. "Take me back, Rosa. What if the cops know who she is?"

***  
Mia

"Thank you. I need to speak with the doctor, I need his help and yours, I want to get my daughter out of here, but I need to make sure she'll be fine. Please," The nurse nodded and hurried to bring the doctor that helped the young American to give birth to the beautiful baby in the incubator.

She looked at the hall where the officers stood once waiting for her to talk to them. A shiver went down her spine as she realized how close she was of being discovered.

She looked down as Sienna started to cry, she wanted to take her baby in her arms and kiss her little head, she felt helpless standing there not knowing what to do, if only the doctor hurried so she could get out of there faster.

"Shh, I'll take you out of here sweetheart, just hang in there for a few more minutes," she caressed the incubator. "I can't wait for you to see your daddy," the nurse entered with the doctor.

"Can I take my daughter home?" Mia started firing questions not wanting to go into more details of why she was in a hurry to get out. "… please" she controlled her breathing, her heart pounding in her chest afraid that the doctor heard it.

***  
Brian

Brian wanted more than anything to go in there with Rosa to see Mia and their daughter but he knew that the cops were looking for him and that this would help nobody. He would only end up in jail and never be with them. So he grit his teeth feeling very disappointed but nodded.

When Rosa was gone he gave the clothes in his hands a quick feel. Vince's. Brian was never a big fan of him and the big guy had felt the same even though Brian had saved his life. They just were both into Mia and that simply couldn't work. Nevertheless he had proofed to be a loyal friend and Brian missed him. The man didn't deserve to die and Rosa surely didn't deserve her fate either.

Chewing his lip Brian slipped into the pants, then struggled to get off the gown, which was almost impossible with his arm in a cast up to his shoulder and bruises all over. He groaned loudly now that nobody was around, gave up and let his head fall against the headrest.

Rolling his head to the side he watched the entrance and police car making sure nobody was heading for him. At least Rosa had left the keys in the ignition.

The doctor inside the hospital looked at Mia in awe. Then he shook his head. "No. You cannot take her home. She needs to be warmed in here and tube fed. She's just too little to be taken home yet. Please have patience. If you take her you will do it on your own account."

With that he left to see another patient. The nurse gave Mia a sympathetic look and left as well. Her only option would be to steal the incubator.

Mia

She was so determined to find a way to take her daughter that it wasn't until a few minutes later she noticed the nurse and the doctor weren't in the room with her. Her hands gripped the incubator tighter as she buried her face in her forearm. Hot tears sting her eyes but she swallowed the lump in her throat, she didn't want Brian to see her like this, he hated to see her cry.

She weighted the pros and cons of taking Sienna out of there. If she stayed she was going to have the care she needed and if she took her out even if Mia was doing everything in her power to take care of her, what if something went wrong while in her care? But then what was the other choice she had? With cops starting to ask questions, yes she got rid of them but for how long?

It sounded crazy for her to steal the incubator, the hospital was filled with cameras in every corner but she also had the money, it was impossible but it wouldn't hurt to ask for the hospital to sell the incubator, she was more than willing to follow every step to be the best mother to that little girl.

"You can do this," she spoke to herself. She had some skills in the medical field; she helped her brother every time he got himself in trouble like that time she had to sew his skin because of a bullet he received to his shoulder. Plus, she had a degree to prove she was well train and capable to do this.

She walked out of the room where her daughter was and spotted the nurse looking at some records of other patients. "I am willing to take that chance and take my daughter out of here; I know she needs the incubator that's why I'm also telling you to ask the doctor if I can purchase the incubator my daughter is in,"  
She wasn't surprised when the nurse look at her like she (Mia) was a little bit crazy. Mia turned out of the corner of her eye seeing a woman a few two steps from here, Rosa stood there listening to the conversation.

The nurse nodded and went to search for the doctor, it was a crazy idea but she had to know the answer. "Before you go," Mia stopped the nurse. "I'll take a quick walk outside, I need some fresh air," Mia turned to Rosa and both women walked out so that Mia could fill in to Brian.

The moment Mia spotted Brian she recognize the clothes he was wearing, of her second brother Vince. She opened the passenger door and embraced him as hard as she could trying to choose her words, she cleared her throat and kiss his forehead. "The doctor tells me the baby needs to stay, she still needs to regulate her temperature and also is being fed by a tube, he told me to be patient and that's something I can't be or have at this point, not when cops decided to question me about you, don't panic the nurse knew who you were by the picture they show her but didn't say a thing," she took a moment to inhale some fresh air into her lungs.

"I asked the nurse if she could talk to the doctor, it sounds crazy but the incubator your daughter is in isn't small so the nurse is going to ask the doctor if it'll be possible for me to purchase the incubator, it might be a 50-50 chance but I can't keep her any longer here, Brian. Several nurses saw you and I was lucky the cops didn't stumble with one that helped you and sooner or later… word will spread and then we'll be in big trouble" she finished her speech and look at Rosa.

"If it'll help, I have a cousin, he's a doctor and if the doctor here," pointing to the hospital give us the green light then we'll take the equipment necessary home and he'll come and take a look at my niece every day," Mia smiled to Rosa.

"Thank you, Rosa." She looked at Brian.

***  
Brian

When Brian saw Mia's slender form emerge from the hospital and runs towards the car he was in he felt relieved because sitting in a parking lot not even 200 meters from a cop car was anything but relaxing. She didn't hold their daughter though. The quick embrace gave him strength to be patient and wait for the explanation but the fact that Mia wanted to take their daughter home even though she needed this 'incubator' and a tube to be fed gave Brian knots in his stomach. He held Mia's hand to get her attention and shook his head. "I don't want to be responsible for our baby to be in danger. She should stay here where doctors can take care of her."

Of course he understood Mia's concern, especially if she's been questioned about him, but their daughters life was more important. "Listen. I'd rather go to jail than cause her harm."

Rosa's suggestion about her friend being a doctor made him listen up and turn to her. "Could he take care of her?"

For a moment he held his breath but then spotted the cops coming from the emergency entrance so he ducked down until his head was on the back seat.

"You have to get me out of here…now. Please." The men's voices were clearly audible but he didn't know what they were saying. When he risked a quick glimpse he saw them search the surrounding bush with flashlights. "Go back and get her, Mia. Rosa will come back for you in a few minutes."

Brian could feel his heart hammer so wildly in his chest that he was afraid it would explode. With shaking hands he reached for Mia's slender fingers. "Our daughter's safety comes first, okay?" For a moment he searched her dark eyes. "If you have to you have to make that choice, Mia."

***  
Mia

Rosa's words caught Brian's attention. The Brazilian woman reply to Brian with a smile on her face. "Yes, he'll be able to take care of your daughter," Both Mia and Rosa looked at Brian ducking his head down.

Mia couldn't speak, no words came out of her instead she nodded understanding where he was going. Her eyes then focus on Rosa "Do as he says, ok? And please contact your cousin and let him know we need the equipment tonight, we'll pay for it," her eyes scan the area where the cops were starting to walk around. "Go," she walked back to the hospital and spotted the nurse looking at some records.

"I've made my decision, I'd like to take my daughter home," the nurse made a sign with her fingers for Mia to follow her. Both women walked to the doctor's office and once again Mia explained that she needed more like wanted to take Sienna out of there.

"I'll follow your instructions but please… let me take her with me home," she looked at the doctor. His face was emotionless which scared Mia. She waited to hear a noise; the silence was killing her until the doctor reluctantly agreed to what Mia was asking.

She just had to wait for the doctor to show her how to feed the baby and about the regulation in the baby's temperature after that it was a matter of minutes for her to hold Sienna for the first time.

***

Brian

Brian's heart was racing when Rosa drove the small old sedan away from the hospital. On one hand they were finally putting some distance between him and the cops but on the other hand Mia and their baby were still there.

Brian kept his head on the seat, which smelled like old leather probably 15 or 20 years of use had made it smell like this. His arm in the cast was incredibly uncomfortable and he was starting to feel all the bumps and bruises now that the pain killers and adrenalin was wearing off.

Slowly he lifted his head to see whether there were any flashing lights nearby and was relieved to see that they were almost alone on the road. For once he understood how Dom had been feeling all these years. On the run, worried to loose his loved ones and unable to really care for them.

He sank back against the leather of the seat and caught Rosa's glimpse in the mirror who said. "She'll be fine."

Brian nodded. "Yes, thank you."Rosa gave him another long, strange look, which he couldn't interpret. Maybe because he was wearing her late husband's pants but no shirt because he hadn't been able to slip it on.

"Thanks for risking…you know, your safety for us."

She simply gave him a serious look and replied. "Of course."

At the hospital Mia had to sign the release papers with her fake name before the baby was handed to her in a few warm blankets.

"You have to register her at the city hall. I hope you know what you're doing." The doctor scolded her in Portuguese and then sent her on her way.

The nurse handed her a small bag with the most necessary items and offered her a smile.  
"Your husband in trouble…" Her look was sympathizing to let Mia know she meant no harm even though she barely knew her.  
"Tchau"

Rosa drove Brian to her small home in the favelas and helped him up the steep stairs. Then she left again.

Except for the voices outside the place was deserted. Silently Brian sat down and winced. He wasn't even aware how much his leg hurt from the accident because he had been too busy focusing on his busted arm. Slowly he looked around the small room with it's simple furniture. The only thing home were a few pictures on the wall which mostly showed Nico but also two which included Vince. He looked really happy. Brian averted his gaze because he felt somehow guilty. If it wasn't for him and Dom Vince hadn't been shot.

**  
Mia

It was hard to describe how it felt for Mia now as a mother holding Sienna for the first time. "Hey sweetie," when the nurse handed Sienna lots of emotions began to overwhelm her. It felt natural for her to hold.

She froze hearing the nurse's words. "Yes…he's in trouble," she confirmed Brian's situation. "Tchau and thank you," Mia said her goodbye and didn't pay attention to the doctor who started to scold her, she knew she was going to do her best to take care of her little one. She took the medium size bag with a few things for the baby.

Slowly she walked through the hospital until she was almost outside. There were a few chairs for people waiting to hear from their relatives in the hospital at this moment so she took a seat waiting for Rosa and a few minutes later she looked out the glass doors and saw Rosa's car.

She stood up and walked to where Rosa parked the car. "Ready to go home?" Rosa asked Mia looking at the small bundle of joy Mia held.

"I'm so ready to go… we are so ready to go," Rosa took the bag Mia had on her shoulders and placed in on the back seat of the car. Mia sat on the co-pilot seat and Rosa closed the door and started the car. After 30 minutes Mia was finally in Rosa's house, Mia slowly got out and walked first climbing the steep stairs of the favela, Rosa behind her.

The door opened and he was there watching some TV, when his gaze locked with hers she couldn't help but smile and looked down at her daughter. Mia was finally where she belonged…with Brian and Sienna.


	8. Chapter 8

A Fresh Start  
Chapter 8

Brian

The time he had to wait until Mia and his daughter would come to Rosas place seemed to drag on forever and gave Brian too many opportunities to think about things that could go wrong with either the babies health or Mia running into cops and getting arrested.

First he busied himself with searching for food because he was starving but didn't find much, so he settled for some stale bread with tomatoes because that's all that was in the fridge.  
Then he watched TV but didn't understand a word and finally wrecked his brain to figure out how on earth he had crashed the car but had no recollection of anything until that strange Portuguese lady showed up and helped him out of the wreck.

He tried to inspect some of the spots on his body that were aching and found a huge lump on the side of his head, which had to be the reason for his loss of memory. Silently he stared down at the the cast on his arm and tried to move his fingers, which proved to be a bad idea so I sat down on the old worn out sofa and tired to figure out what the people on TV were saying when he heard a key in the door.

Instinctively he tensed up but relaxed when he spotted Rosa. Then she walked through the door: Mia, his love holding their tiny little daughter.

Instantly Brian was on his feet and embraced both in a much needed hug. Holding both of them well and free was a incredible. First he shared a kiss with Mia but then looked down at Sienna and smiled. His daughter was right there in front of him, only inches away from his face. So small, yet perfect. Gently he ran his free hand over her head with the soft dark hair.

Then he bent down and for the first time in her young life kissed her on the forehead, inhaled her scent, felt her softness. The moment was unbeatable. They were united.  
"I love you two so much!"

After a few minutes he gave Mia some room and asked. "Is she okay?" The baby was so small and had been in an incubator before. The ex cop could barely believe that she was here now.  
"Did anybody ask you any more questions or follow you?" His cop instincts took over and  
he stepped to the window to check outside. Only a few boys were outside kicking an old ball.

Mia

She walked to the couch and sat down with her daughter in her arms. Her delicate fingers touched the baby's forehead making Sienna stirred in her sleep, her little arms and hands covered her little face as if not wanting to be disturbed not even by her mom at this time. "Aww," a smile lit up Mia's face. "She's fine, doctor told me to keep her warm."

Rosa approached the couple to take better look at the baby. "She's beautiful, Mia and don't worry I spoke to my cousin while I was on my way to pick you up to the hospital, he'll be here in a few minutes to take a look at Brian and this little one,"

"Thank you so much, Rosa." Mia's gaze spotted Nico standing on the door that divided the kitchen and the living room. "Don't be afraid you can come here and take a closer look at your cousin," she spoke to the boy in Portuguese.

Nico's face lit up and approached Mia smiling as he look at little Sienna sleeping. Rosa touched Nico's head. "Come on, let's make dinner. I need the help of this chef," Nico ran to the kitchen laughing giving Mia and Brian some privacy.

"Don't worry honey, nobody followed me or stop me to question me," for the first time in her life she relaxed, life couldn't be more perfect.

Brian

When he turned around Mia was on the couch with Sienna. Her face was beaming and she looked more beautiful than ever before. It simply took Brian's breath away. "You look drop dead gorgeous, Mia. I thought you'd be a mess after giving birth but you're such a beautiful mum."

The words felt weird coming out of his mouth although he had 9 months time to get used to the idea.  
Walking over he carefully sat down next to her his eyes always on their child.  
"Sounds strange, doesn't it, mum?"

At the sound of his voice the baby briefly opened her eyes and looked around in no particular direction. "Can she see me?" Brian whispered and ran his thumb over her little hand. Her eyes were blue just like his, which made him proud. "She's got my eyes but the rest is all you….good. She'll be a looker."

Suddenly the baby's face turned into a frown, the bottom lip dropped and she started crying, which send Brian into slight panic. "What? Shhhh, what does she need?" He tensed up.

Rosa came from the kitchen with an apron around her waist. "Milk, I think."

Her son's eyes became almost as wide as Brian's because of the baby's small screams.  
"You sounded just like that, Nico."

"No." The boy objected and ran back into the kitchen from where the sizzling of onions in a pan could be heard.

Mia

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not a mess," she chuckle as he walked over her and sat next to her. When the words left his mouth 'Sounds stranger, doesn't it mom?' her eyes went straight to Brian's face. "Mom…" she whispered to herself, it felt weird but the word suited her.

Sienna open her eyes, those beautiful eyes were as blue as Brian's. She laughed at his comment about the baby being a 'looker'. "Wait until she's 15, poor girl you'll barely let her go out with friends and if we add Dom to the equation," she shook her head those two were going to be overprotecting her daughter and running background checks on any guy that asked her out.

The baby started to cry and Brian started to panic a little. "She's just hungry. Shhh…" she rocked the baby in her arms. Nico poke his head and ran back to the kitchen making Rosa laugh. "All right little one, time to feed you" the baby's cry subsided a little almost like understanding what mom was saying to her.

Brian

With a worried expression Brian watched Mia's calm collected moves. It was as if she instinctively knew what to do. "Is she strong enough to…." He cut himself off. All he knew was that babies either were breast fed or by formula in a bottle but he had overheard Mia say that their daughter still needed to be fed by a tube…whatever that meant.

The baby's cries subsided with her mother's soothing words so Brian relaxed a little too. His urge to hold her was gone for a moment.

His own face was pretty pale and tired when he leaned his shoulder against the couch and winced at the ever growing pain."Dinner's going to be ready in 10 minutes." Rosa announced while her son started setting the table and was eyeing both Brian and Mia curiously.  
"Are you dad's friends or moms?

The question was legit but before Brian could get nervous about a suitable answer his mother interjected. "Their family, Nico." Two glasses of water were placed in front of Mia and Brian, which he thankfully set against his dry lips and gulped down.

A knock at the door had Brian jump up and even Rosa grew nervous for a moment and motioned for him to go into the room next door until she opened the door and spotted a familiar face. Her cousin, who happened to be a general physician. The dark skinned tall man greeted her with a kiss and then Nico, who was visibly delighted.

"Come in, she's over there." The Portuguese woman told him with a nod at Mia.

Next door Brian relaxed. Once again the network of the Toretto family was working in their favour. It was something he had never known the power of until he met Dom and Mia.

Mia

Brian wasn't the only one nervous, her heart skipped a beat but when Rosa open and revealed her cousin she relaxed too. The tall man approached her with a warm smile on his lips. "I'm Mia, nice to meet you" she shook his hand as she spoke in Portuguese to him.

Nico ran with his arms wide open and Rosa's cousin received his nephew with open arms lifting the boy in the air, Nico's laugh made Mia chuckle too. She couldn't wait for her daughter to be Nico's age, she couldn't wait to find out the baby's personality, what she liked or what she wasn't going to like, what was going to be her favorite color? Oh, well she had to wait but for now she had to enjoy her daughter being a baby.

"I'm getting ready to feed her. Would you like to take a look at her before I feed her?" she asked the doctor, her arms lifting her sleepy daughter a little bit.

"We're clear, come on out," she turned to the room where Brian was encouraging him to get out and join her at the living room, her daughter wasn't the only that needed help.

Brian

The man followed Mia's gaze to the bedroom from where Brian was emerging looking like he had just been run over by a train. The man's expression revealed his confusion.

He lifted his hands and said in a firm voice in Portuguese. "I promise I will help you because you're Rosa's friends but I demand to know what is going on here. Why is the baby not in the hospital or you?" He pointed at Brian who didn't understand a word.

"What is he saying?" Brian didn't like the tone of his voice.

Rosa came over to their help. "Calm down, Sal. They are family and can't be detected by the police. That's why they aren't at the hospital."

The doctor took in her words and frowned. "So this probably means I could lose my license for helping you." He now switched over to English. "I want two things. You word that nobody will mention my name and you pay me cash…if you can pay me at all."

He then turned to the baby and took out his stethoscope. First he took her temperature, then listened to her heart. "She's not warm enough. Wrap her up in blankets and turn on the heat in here. I'll try to get my hands on the incubator by tonight. Is she drinking your milk?" His dark eyes were now on Mia.

The whole situation made Brian more than uncomfortable and he wished he had his gun…just in case, or two good firsts or at least a shirt on. He felt exposed but the fact that his daughter needed help made him stay quiet and simply watch with weary eyes.

Silently he found a spot next to Mia to sit down to watch what the doctor was doing with Sienna. Quietly he reached for Mia's hand to hold it.

Mia

"Don't worry, we'll pay and will not mention your name," Mia started to say. She panicked a little when Sal let her know she wasn't warm enough. Her arms held her daughter a little tighter.

"I was getting ready to feed her, since she's been fed by a tube what I'll do is extract my milk and will give it to her slowly," she felt Brian's hand and she leaned on him a little. Nico stood a few feet from them watching the scene unfolding in front of his  
beautiful eyes.

"My husband needs help too," she turned to Brian to massage the back of his head. She felt tired but there was no way in hell she was going to sleep not when the two people she loved the most needed medical attention.

Brian

Mia was the sweetest person. Even in bad situations she cared about him. Most likely he had brought his injuries upon himself but she didn't care. For a short moment he wondered how the accident actually happened because he had always thought he's one of the best drivers out there and would never crash.

Brian pushed that thought aside when she talked about extracting milk. The thought was so strange that he had to grin even though it had to be the most normal thing in the world. Heck, he had been sucking on his mothers breast when he was a tiny baby.

He couldn't wipe the stupid grin of his face until the doctor said."Your husband can wait. Let's take care of the baby first. What's her name?"

Only then did Brian notice that Mia was referring to him as her husband. Despite the fact that as far as he knew they weren't married or even engaged the silly smirk returned to his lips.

Quickly the doctor washed his hands and then offered the baby his finger to suck on it. The tiny mouth closed around it and sucked a little."I'd say try to breast feed her but she'll need extra through a tube. Did the hospital give you the equipment?" His English was broken but understandable.

The thought that some tube would be pushed into his baby girl made Brian nervous. It added to his own shaky health, made his heart beat a little too fast, increased his headache. Sweat built on his forehead. If things kept going like this he might just pass out again. So he leaned forward and held up his hand. "Wait. Mia, please try to feed her." His voice was almost trembling. Never in his life had a little being been able to win his heart so quickly. He felt responsibility for the first time in his life.

Mia

"Her name's Sienna," she answered calmly to the doctor. When the doctor mention Sienna might need to be fed through a tube made her a little uncomfortable and wished in that moment to switch places with her girl.

"Yes, the hospital gave me the equipment," pointing to the medium size tote bag that Rosa held a few moments ago. Every single piece of equipment was stored in their own package with black bold letters in one of the corners of each package with the word 'sterile' in them.

When Brian spoke she turned to him, he looked paler. She frown placing her left cool hand behind her neck afraid he was going to faint. She then took a thin and almost medium size blanket to cover herself as she unclasped a special bra she was wearing making it easier for her to just guide the baby's mouth to her breast.

Sienna's skin felt warmer to Mia as she coaxed the little girl to take her meal, just a few seconds later and the baby suckled, she looked down removing the blanket a little just to reveal a very hungry baby with her little hand on her mother's breast afraid Mia was going to forbade her to keep eating.

Brian

All the sterile equipment gave Brian the creeps. It looked just like at the instruments, needles and tubes they had just used on him at the hospital and induced a certain kind of fear. Naturally it gave him a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach to think that it might be used on the fragile little baby.

When Mia sat down and put her daughter to her breast a warm feeling washed over Brian. Everything seemed so normal and natural. It was instinct that guided Sienna and seeing Mia like this made her grow even more in Brian's eyes. She was most definitely the best woman in the world.

Brian felt his knees get weak so he sat down in an arm chair and leaned his aching head against the back but never took his eyes off the girls. Only for a second he looked over at the doctor who carefully watched what the woman was doing. The man seemed pleased and didn't interrupt the feeding.

The baby paused for a moment before it searched for the milk again and continued sucking.  
With a smile on his pale lips he asked Mia. "Did I ask you to marry me yet?" It was a strange way of proposing so he added. "Because if not, I'm and idiot and should do it right now!"

Mia

"What?" she was brought back to the present when Brian asked her about marriage. A little shock to hear him say the words, and even if she tried to speak she couldn't… words couldn't come out of her lips.

The baby stopped suckling and her eyes were on her daughter, she stirred a little in her arms and went back to suckle for more milk. She turned to the doctor. "Do you think she'll need to be fed using the tube?" she was afraid to ask but had to, hopefully the doctor would say 'no'.

Mia could feel her eyes closing; she blinked a couple of times not wanting to sleep not when Sienna was still eating, her body demanded some rest but she had to wait a little bit more. Sienna kept eating for five more minutes and stopped; she looked down at her daughter and couldn't hide the smile when she noticed Sienna fell asleep her little hand never losing contact with her mother.

Brian  
Brian never got an answer to his question, which made him a little upset when in fact he already knew the answer anyway. Maybe he had just chosen a bad moment in time to pop the question, if Mia even perceived it as that.

He watched her feed the baby and uneasily shifted in his seat because he could feel the various bruises and breaks more and more. Obviously the pain killers were coming to and end and all that could help him now was the happiness about their newborn child.

Unfortunately the fact that Sienna was so early and tiny made him worry and unable to enjoy the situation to its maximum. The doctor unwrapped the tube wearing rubber gloves and nodded because the baby had fallen asleep after only a few minutes of drinking.

"It's very important that she gets enough hydration and nutrition, so I'd like to ask you to extract some milk and then I'll show you how to give it to her."

The next few minutes were cruel. Not only did Brian have to listen to his little daughter cry in protest when the tube was put through her nose into her stomach but also was he worried about Mia, who had paled considerably, while holding her baby.  
"It's going to be okay. Don't worry Mia. She's going to be fine." He tried to calm both her and himself. For a moment he could feel his hands shake and his throat tighten but tried to remain strong for the girls.

Mia

She wished the doctor would've said no, but boy did she regret opening her mouth. Her arms felt numb holding the baby and at the last minute had to turn her gaze to the floor as the cries of Sienna tore at her insides.

She bit her tongue trying to block her daughter's cries calling out to her. She knew Brian was right and send a quick prayer for all of this to end afraid she was going to shout to the doctor to stop, but it was something she agreed to do before walking out of the hospital with the baby.

She felt the room spin for a moment, her heart rate increased making her close her eyes for a moment. "Hurry up," she muttered under her breath. Sienna's cries just intensified, why was the doctor not done? Mia looked down at the baby and how the doctor was explaining for her to feed her.

It broke Mia's heart not being able to stop something that was going to help Sienna to survive, but what broke her even more was seeing the tears coming out of her daughter blue eyes and her little arms reaching out to Mia, but mommy couldn't do a thing which made the baby more upset and kept crying, more like screaming at the top of her lungs.

Brian

From where he sat he couldn't see his daughter behind the doctor but he could hear her and those cries were heart wrenching and made him sick to his stomach. For his taste they lasted way too long, too and made him wonder whether the man knew what he was doing. All sorts of things went through his head from getting up and stopping him too soothing Mia and Sienna, to simply running out of the room because he couldn't bare it any longer.

Mia was begging for him to hurry and boy did she ever look bad. Her lips had lost all color and her expression was frantic. So Brian struggled up from his seat and came to sit next to her. "Let me hold her, take a moment to breathe before you pass out."

The doctor stopped for a moment looking up at Mia's pale features and nodded. "Almost done…we need your milk now."

Brian carefully held out his good arm to receive the squirming baby, who was crying on top of her lungs. Under any other circumstances this would have been the moment to run and hide but now it was the moment to actually become a father.

While the doctor taped the tube to Sienna's nose he averted his gaze and watched Mia stand up hoping she wouldn't fall over. Finally the baby's cries were subsiding and the doctor sat back to give them both a moment.

Rosa had stayed in the back ground the whole time but was now following Mia next door. "Can I help you, sweetheart?" She offered with a kind smile.

Mia

It was hard to stand up where all she wanted to do was to scream at the doctor to stop "torturing" her baby. She took the tote bag that had also the equipment for her to extract her milk. She entered the next room and sat down on the bed and turned to Rosa. "Can you hand me a towel, please?" she started to take out the small equipment and it wasn't hard to put it all together and started to extract her milk.

She kept extracting her milk, she looked at the ceiling, her lips quiver and a tear fell, she quickly brush it with the back of her hand, Sienna's cries finally breaking down her walls. She managed to stop the tears and concentration on extracting more milk.  
She took the towel from Rosa's hands. "Thanks," and wiped her breast carefully preparing herself to go back to the room where Brian held Sienna.

She stood up and walked to the restroom splashing some water on her face taking a moment to look at herself in the mirror. "You can do this," she whispered to her reflection and walked back to the living room.

She sat down next to Brian and offered him a quick smile and whispered a 'Thank you' to him. She then look at the doctor and gave him the bottle with a good amount of milk in it. "Ok," she waited for him to tell her what to do.

When Brian looked up from his daughter to Mia it was obvious she had been crying by the red streaks on her cheeks. If there was one thing that the ex-cop hated it was seeing Mia cry. She was one of the strongest women he knew and hardly ever cried but when she did she surely had her reasons. At least Sienna had stopped the loud cries and now only did the odd small complaint here and there.

The doctor filled some of Mia's milk in a small syringe and attached it to the tube. Then he handed it to Mia. "Now you simply push it in…that's it. Burp her and keep her as warm as you can…preferably on you chest under your clothes…either one of you." He looked at everybody in the room.  
"Try!" He encouraged Mia.

Brian was still holding Sienna but was visibly uncomfortable and not dealing very well with the whole situation himself. He pretended to be okay with it but everything in him scream 'fear', which wasn't an idea he wasn't used to because he had always treated his own life with a pretty reckless attitude.

When the milk was fed and the baby calming down he scooted deeper into the seat, squeezed his eyes shut and groaned audibly. "Holy shit!" This wasn't how he had pictured their first day together. Even though he wanted to be strong for Mia, who had just been through hell and back, he couldn't hold it together any longer. Brian was in too much pain to stay calm and collected. Pain and fear were a really bad combination.

Mia

She went into nurse mode when the doctor encouraged her to feed Sienna, Brian held the baby as Mia fed her, after finishing she took the baby from his arms and made her burp, it felt so good to have her back.

Sienna' s little head nuzzle in her chest, her little hand making contact with Mia's skin, realizing that mom was holding her, her little eyes closed and no more cries filled the room.

She leaned back on the sofa and sighed out loud. "It's your turn," she spoke to Brian seeing the pain in his features. "I'll take it from here," she told the doctor standing up from the sofa and walking a little around the house with her baby well secured on her arms keeping her as warms as she could.

If this was the first day… she was going to have to work really hard on her emotions every time she had to feed Sienna and it wasn't a onetime feeding but every 2 to 3 hours.

Brian

Mia managed to get her emotions under control very quickly and fell into nurse or even mother mode easily. She seemed very collected when she was finally done feeding and had her baby back in her arms.

It was almost as if a rock dropped off Brian's chest to see both of them content and he had time to focus on himself again, which was a good and a bad thing at the same time. There was no recollection of the crash itself but his aching head, knee and mostly the arm, that was now held together by screws and a cast, hurt terribly. As long as the baby was crying he had someone else to focus on but now he felt it hit him like a ton of bricks.

"What happened to you?" The doctor asked wondering what he could do for the beat up man.  
"I don't know." Brian answered truthfully. "I guess I've been in an accident."

The older Portuguese took out a light to shine it in Brian's eyes. The bright light made the ex-cops head hurt even worse than before so he flinched away and growled. "The hospital has already taken care of me. I just want to sleep."

In his strong accent the man replied. "Do that. Concussion."

"Hmm." Brian pushed himself up from the armchair and struggled to his feet, careful not to put too much weight on the one that had been squashed in the car crashed before he turned his back on the man, who had just hurt his baby girl and limped towards the bedroom.

"I'm okay. Just leave me alone." His tone was cranky and obviously annoyed.  
He pushed the door closed before he lowered himself onto the bed and hoped he would be able to fall asleep rather sooner than later.

Of course the attitude didn't please the doctor but Rosa managed to calm him down by apologizing. "Not very appreciative, I'm sorry about him. He's just had a long, hard day."

With raised brows the man grabbed his black leather bag and slipped of the rubber gloves. "I'll be back tomorrow, Rosa. Are you and Nico okay?"

The dark skinned woman confirmed with a nod and smiled. "Obrigada."

On his way out he passed Mia, who was sitting in front of the door with the sleeping baby. Offering her hand he said. "Your husband doesn't want any help. Keep an eye on him. If he's acting strange take him back to the hospital. That concussion could be dangerous." He held out a few pills to her. "For him."With a friendly squeeze of her shoulder he said his goodbyes."You're a strong woman. I'll be back tomorrow morning."

Mia

"I'll keep an eye on him," she thanked the doctor and stood up from the chair and opened the door slowly that moment ago Brian had close.

Sienna was asleep in her arms; carefully she sat on the bed next to him kissing his forehead. "He was trying to help…" she stop afraid he was going to blow up. It was a very hard and intense day on both of them with the whole ritual to feed Sienna, it was hard.

"Take one pill, this should help," giving him the bottle. She lay down on the bed placing the baby in the middle giving her a chance to run her cool fingers through his hair.

She didn't know what else to say other than she understood the feeling of desperation both of them had the moment their girl started screaming, it was hard because he was in pain and she felt helpless for once in her life, as if a snap of her fingers was going to cure him.

"I'll get something to eat. Would you like some?" waiting for his answer, he was tired but Mia crossed her fingers behind her back hoping he'd eat something before taking a pill and go back to sleep.

Brian

There was no way in hell that Brian could get comfortable on the small, hard bed with multiple bruises and his arm in a cast at an awkward angle. "Gahhh, I hate this!" He complained loudly as if he was the only one in a bad situation.

When Mia offered him a pill he shook his head like a stubborn little child."I need more than that." What would one little pill do?"

"Give me some whiskey. That'll help me."Against all odds Mia wasn't getting annoyed with him but remained nice and suggested to eat a bite but Brian only shook his head and frowned at the ceiling. "Not hungry." He didn't care that Rosa had gone to the trouble of making a meal.

Of course he wasn't well but he was also being absolutely selfish. Mia was the one who had just given birth and made the most difficult decision. It didn't take long until Brian got a very bad conscience but only closed his eyes instead of apologizing. He simply wanted to sleep and tomorrow everything would be better.

Next to him Sienna was chasing rabbits in the crack of the bed in between the mattresses and tore him out of his daze. He rolled his head to the side and looked at his little daughter, took in her delicate features, the rosy skin, the small button nose and how she was pursing her small lips.  
Unwillingly a smile played on his lips and he leaned over a little to kiss her cheek.

Mia

"Don't you think I hate this too?" her voice rose a little but she stopped herself from starting a fight with him.

"I know you don't feel well and I understand how hard it was to watch Rosa's cousin feed Sienna and as cruel as it was it had to be done, Brian"

She lifted the baby from the mattress. "If you're not going to eat at least take the pill," she insisted one more time. She took a small pill and held it in her hand for him to take it. "Don't make me shove the pill in your mouth," she warned him.

Giving up she placed the pill on the mattress where he could see it. "This isn't like you: so stubborn and childish. Good night," she got out of the room leaving Brian to cool off a little and hopefully he would re think and see how he was behaving.

She walked to the kitchen and spotted Nico having dinner. "Do you want to eat Aunt Mia?" Mia smiled at the 'aunt' part.

"I'd love to Nico, thanks." she told her nephew in Portuguese taking a seat next to him with Sienna, the little girl open her eyes and look around.

"Hey you," Mia chuckle kissing her little forehead, Sienna yawn and moved her little arms making Nico stop eating and take a look at his little cousin.

Brian

The all too familiar temper of the Torettos broke through and mad Brian flinch. Mostly Mia was very calm and mild manners but he knew all too well to duck when she got mad because eventually she'd explode. In the past they had had a few heated arguments and each time Brian regretted starting them.

This time was no different. Hearing the tone of her voice made alarm bells go off. The one thing he didn't need was an argument with Mia on top of everything else so after sulking for a few minutes he finally found the pill on the mattress and swallowed it dry. It couldn't hurt to take it.

The thing got stuck half way down his throat making him cough and almost gag so he got up with some effort and padded to the bathroom still in Vince's pants but without a shirt or socks. Everything he owned had been soiled and removed by the hospital.

In the bathroom he quickly hung his head under the tab to drink some water and then splashed some in his face before he admired his beaten up tired reflection in the beautiful, large mirror. It had handmade carvings on the side. The man he saw in the mirror looked far from his usual self.

Tired, gloomy, bad. Not like a new father. So Brian decided to pick himself up and get in a better mood, no matter what. Both Mia and Sienna deserved that.

Putting a more neutral look on his face he went to the kitchen, where everybody had gathered at the table. There was one empty chair and a plate, which were practically waiting for him across the table from Mia.

So he silently sat down and looked over at Mia, who was already eating. Hopefully Mia would notice that he was trying to make an effort to avoid a fight. So he took the fork next to his plate and started eating.

"Hmm, good. Thanks, Rosa." Again his eyes found Mia as he mouthed. 'sorry'

Mia

'Good job, big baby' she didn't say the words out loud but stop herself from laughing but smile and nodded.

"Dinner was delicious, Rosa. Thank you so much," She started to lift her plate but Rosa stopped her.

"I'll do that for you, it's getting late now. Why don't you go to bed? You really need to take a nap," Rosa said looking at Mia's tired face.

"Thanks," she walked around the table and stop where Brian was eating kissing the top of his head whispering a "Thanks, honey." one more time and walked back to the room with her baby girl.

She lay down on the bed pulling the baby closer to her chest not forgetting about Sienna needing to be warm at all times.

Her gaze shift to a small table next to the bed she was at and notice the bottle of pills chuckling knowing Brian didn't hesitate and took the pill, it was really rare when she got mad and when she did Brian knew not to play around, she was the peace maker but when Brian took that kind of attitude she didn't hesitate to let her temper out a little.

Her short moment of joy disappeared wondering about when and where she was going to see her brother.

Brian

The meal was actually not only very delicious but also much needed since Brian hadn't eaten the whole day. His stomach stopped rumbling and he relaxed a little. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea.

He leaned back and looked over at Rosa who was helping her son to finish his food. They looked very comfortable with each other, not like some families he knew were kids were unruly and constantly being told off by their parents.

"I hope Sienna is going to turn out like Nico. I like the way you two interact." Nico looked at his mother questioningly who translated Brian's words and then smiled at him.

"Treat her with respect. She'll do the same."Rosa's words were unusual and surprised him but he picked up his plate and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

With a raised brow the woman got up and took the plate from him. "You go lay down with your 'family'." The word was stressed and sounded strange but awesome to Brian.

Brian followed her Mia into the bedroom again where he found her snuggled up in bed with the baby so he slid under the cover with them so their daughter was in between them.

"Sorry about earlier." He turned his head to place a soft kiss on her cheek. He didn't notice how glum she was suddenly looking.

"You never answered my question; at least I don't recall your answer." His pale blue eyes fell on the tiny baby next to him. "I think it would be nice if we all had the same last name."

Mia

She smiled closing her eyes loving the sensation of his warm lips on her cheek. "I guess, I should use more that technique for you to behave," she laughed accepting his apology.

She took a moment to answer his last question. "Well… what do you say about that, Sienna?" she looked down at the baby caressing her little forehead with her thumb.

The little girl might be having a dream since Sienna moved her little arms in the air. Mia placed her hands under her tiny ones and slowly placed them down.

"I'd say that's a 'yes'." She carefully moved the baby closer to Brian giving her some room to lean closer to him placing a kiss on his lips. "…and I'd say I'll be more than happy to go from Ms. Toretto to Mrs. O'Conner."

Brian

The moment she asked Sienna Brian knew she was playing with him and just teasing him by making him wait a little longer for the answer."Say yes, Sienna." He whispered to the girl before Mia actually gave him the answer he'd been longing to hear for hours...days, actually years. Even when they weren't together Brian could never get the raven haired beauty out of his head. She had him wrapped around her little finger ever since he laid eyes on her at the crappy diner.

Now she even accepted his last name, which put a large grin on Brian's face. "I would have taken your last name but I simply don't look like a Toretto." That name and Dom's bald skull were connected like day and night. For Mia Brian would take any name as long as it was the same as hers though.

Excited he added. "So she's going to be little Miss Sienna O'Conner. I love the sound of that." He carefully played with her tiny fingers.

Suddenly he remembered something that had happened just before the accident. "The ring..." With worry he reached into the pants he was wearing, which were of course empty.

"It was in my pants..." His smile dropped from his face just as fast as it had gotten there.

Mia

It broke Mia's heart to see that spark of happiness disappear in a blink of an eye. "Hey…" she lifted his chin with her hand. "I hate seeing you like this," and she did…

She played with the corners of his mouth. "That's better…" she mimicked with her hands a smile. "I can't wait for your daughter to have 4 or 5 years old, I guarantee you, she'll be doing the same thing as I am," trying to change his sadness.

"The ring can wait," she stopped until he was looking at her. "Because all I need is you and this little one,"

Brian

The fact that he had lost her ring bothered Brian but he looked up into her dark eyes and saw the love that would be there, no matter if she got a ring or not.

The ways she was playing around with the corners of his mouth made his lips twitch until he couldn't suppressed a smile. "I can't wait until she does all those little things."

His eyes scanned the little features for a moment picturing what she'd look like in 4 years and what she might be doing to him. It was something that filled his heart with great joy and made the lost engagement ring seem meaningless.

"You sure? I'll get you another one soon." He promised as he leaned his head against the pillow and pulled Sienna a little close to his side to keep her warm.

While he was laying there with his two girls tiredness overcame him and his eyes drifted close. The night would be uncomfortable so embraced the sleep that was about to ease his pain.  
"Night, Mia. Night, Sienna." The blonde smiled with his eyes closed.

Mia

"Yes, I'm sure," She could stay up all night looking at Brian sleeping. "Good night, hon. I love you," she tease him kissing his forehead, then moved down to his cheek and finally on his lips, the smile never erasing from his lips.

"Good night, Sienna" She gave her a big kiss and got closer to the persons she loved the most.

Tiredness won this time too and fell asleep, preparing herself for the next day. The doctor would come tomorrow to take a look at Sienna and Brian too.

Brian

Falling asleep with both of his loved ones in his arms gave the ex-cop a great sense of comfort. It felt like a safe haven where he simply belonged. Nothing else would be right. With that thought Brian drifted off to sleep. It was a deep, dreamless sleep and lasted until 4 in the morning when he accidentally rolled onto his right side and woke up to blinding pain.

Groaning loudly he rolled back onto his back and waited for the stinging and throbbing to subside.  
Next to him Sienna was crying softly in her sleep because he had probably disturbed her.  
Brian waited until she was quiet again and then rolled out of bed looking for the bottle of pills, which wasn't easy with the only light being the moon coming in through the closed curtains.

Eventually he found it, grabbed it and made his way to the bathroom where he turned on the light.  
'better take two this time' he thought to himself. While he swallowed them with some water he wondered where Nico and Rosa were sleeping if he and Mia were in their bed.

Since he was wide awake now he first did his business and then looked in the mirror to admire the bruise that was building on the side of his head.

He still couldn't remember what happened even though eh was wrecking his brain. For a while he sat down on a basket, that served as a laundry hamper and thought about it when he suddenly remember one minor detail. The truck.

How is was heading straight towards him, which was a memory he would rather forget so he got up and started walking around the apartment, looking for something to pass the time when he heard Sienna from the bedroom.

Mia

Mia eyes open as quick as Sienna was starting to fuss, she looked to her right and Brian's side was empty. Where was he? "Come here," she whispered to Sienna, the baby probably was hungry.

She brought the baby closer to her breast and immediately Sienna was suckling for milk.

The night wasn't hot or too cold, and the moon coming from the close curtains gave a sense of peace. "Where's daddy?" she whispered to the baby as Sienna's little hand rested on her breast.

She looked at the curtains being move by the wind, having the window open made the room to have just the right temperature, making Mia silky and long hair move too. Sienna stop eating for a little bit and started crying in her arms. "I'm right here," she spoke softly to her child. She hoped Rosa or Nico didn't wake up by her soft cries that sooner would become loud.

Brian

When he heard Mia's soft voice speaking to Sienna and soothing her he got torn out of his thoughts about the accident. Quickly he turned off the bathroom light and padded back to the bedroom where he stopped in the doorframe for a second to take in Mia's appearance.

The flowing silky gown, the hair, their baby. "Wow." He simply shook his head and leaned his good should against the wooden doorframe and supported his injured arm with the other one.  
For a moment he stood trying to engrave this picture deep in his memory.  
Sienna started sobbing again so he walked over.

"Do you want me to take her? I can't sleep anyway." Mia had many sleepless nights ahead of her. She might as well make use of the few when Brian, who usually slept like a log, was offering to take over.

Mia

"There you are," covering her mouth as she yawn. She changed the position of the baby and padded her little back until she burped, placing her again on the mattress. "Yes, I'd love that, please" she answered his question, she still felt a little tired.

"Thanks," she placed her head on the pillow after Brian was next to Sienna but didn't go to sleep immediately knowing Rosa's cousin was going to show up in a few hours. She frowned not taking her eyes of Sienna. Was she prepared to see her daughter go through the same thing? Will she be able to bear the sound of her daughter's cries again?

Brian

With a nod Brian sat down on the bed next to her and laid down turning to his side so Sienna was cradled in the gap between his chest and his arm and got enough body heat. For a while he studied her small face.

Her tiny nose, the closed eyes, the bit of down like hair. Even if the police came storming in right now and pulled him away from his family he'd never forget her face. It was deeply engraved into his brain.

He heard Mia's breath next to him. They were to uneven for her to be asleep so he assumed she was awake."I'm sorry, Mia. That you couldn't give birth and enjoy the first while like any other mother."  
That was one thing that would always bother him.

Brian had always devoted his life to chasing the bad guys and living according to the law. Being an outlaw on the run himself was never part of his plan and he'd never get used to the idea. His conscience had driven him to thoughts like walking into a police station and accepting whatever sentence he'd get. Now with Mia and Sienna things were different though. He couldn't act on impulse or what he wanted any more.

"I wish we didn't have to be on the run. Mia, you know you don't have to be. I know you'll tell me I'm crazy but if you wanted to settle down with Sienna and live a normal live I could turn myself in. I know you always hated that Dom was a criminal."

Mia

"You are crazy, no matter what I'll always be by your side. That first time I knew you were a cop—I pushed you away and it was a very stupid thing to do," reviewing like a critic to a movie that scene of her lashing out at Brian in the small café.

"…and in that moment when you ran after me to the kitchen and made love that's when I knew I wanted to be with you forever. All that matters are you and Sienna, I don't care if we keep running as long as I'm with you two I'm at home," forgetting for a moment that day at the hospital after jumping from the window asking him for how long were they going to be doing the same thing: run from the cops.

"Don't ever say that, ok? Don't ever say anything about me settling down with Sienna and you turning yourself in. Besides, what would be the point if you're not there for us," She got closer to him being careful not to hurt Sienna. "I love you,"

Brian

He remembered vividly what it felt like when Mia told him how much he had hurt her and that she wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Until then he simply didn't feel good about it but at that moment he got crushed. Never before had he doubted his profession and decisions more than then.

It didn't take long after that for him to realize what mattered more, the job or Mia. "I remember that day like today. It's the worst I've felt for ages and it made me doubt my career. I just wanted to make you feel better, see you happy again." Gladly he received her kiss.

"Back then I figured out that seeing you happy was more than making others follow the law."

He joined in the kiss closing his eyes. For a moment he felt her soft, warm lips on his before he gently sucked on her bottom lip and trailed his tongue along it.

When they parted he added. "I just needed to let you know that you always have that option if you ever feel it would be a better choice for our daughter because I'm telling you, baby, I'd do anything for her." To stress his point he leaned down to kiss Sienna in her sleep.

Mia

"I'm sure I'll never make that choice," she smiled as he leaned down to kiss the baby, feeling his daddy kiss Sienna stir in her sleep.

"I know you'd do anything for her," kissing him one more time. "I'd do the same too,"

"How's your arm? Did the pills help a little?" passing her fingers through his hair. She forgot about going back to sleep and decided to stay talking with him.

Brian

At least he did one thing right if Mia knew he'd do anything for them.  
For a minute he closed his eyes to kiss her and enjoy the feeling.

The question about the arm just made him frown because it was anything but pleasant and judging by the amount of pain radiating into every direction it would take a long time to heal if it ever really did.  
With Mia he didn't have to put on a brave face although she was used to her brother taking bullets without flinching.

"Not really. I took two but it still hurts like a bitch…so does my head." He indicated the side that smashed against the window. Then he shrugged. "It'll all look different in a few days."  
With the same pained worried expression he looked at the bright white cast. "Do you suppose they could have done something wrong?"

Suddenly Brian realized how pathetic he had to sound compared to Dom so he shrugged it off and laughed a little embarrassed. "Never mind. Remember when Dom got shot through the shoulder? I swear your brother didn't even flinch. I saw the blood but he was so focused on catching Braga he didn't even notice."

Brian had to smile at the memory. "Your brother is one hell of a guy. I hope he's doing fine. Have you told him about Sienna yet?"Mia's fiancé wasn't quite sure what they had said. His memory was all over the place when it came to the past 24 hours.

Mia

When Brian pointed to his head she carefully placed a kiss on the smashed side. "Sal will be here in a few hours… I'm sorry you're in so much pain, wish I could take that away,"

"Big baby, but I still love you" she couldn't help but laugh placing her arms around his neck bringing him closer to her to kiss him some more.

She smiled at the memory too, how she had lots of fun stitching Dom's shoulder and the Chinese food they had and how she scolded him for not saying grace. "I haven't been able to contact him. I'm sure he's doing fine," After all he did well without his sister for 5 years.

"I can't wait for Dom to meet her," leaning down placing soft kisses on Sienna's forehead.

Brian

Brian. "Big, baby, huh? Thanks." He guessed that compared to Dom anybody would look like a big baby so he let it pass.

The few kisses here and there from Mia made him feel much better than the pills. "You're a wonderful nurse, you know that. A few more of those kisses and it'll all be good." Brian pretended to think and then added. "Well, I could think of something that would be even more effective than your kisses." He gently reached around her waist and moved his hip closer to hers. Of course it was a joke.

"Well call Dom's contact in the morning and then he'll be here soon."

After another 30 minutes Brian actually managed to go back to sleep despite the pain. He heard none of Sienna's cries or Mia's soothing until the early morning hours when a loud knock on the door woke him with a start.

Brian almost fell out of bed and shook Mia awake. "Wake up, Mia. I think it's the cops." That loud banging sounded again and he could hear Rosa get up."You have to stop her."

Brian roamed around in search of his gun only to remember that he didn't even have his clothes so next thing he was checking the window to see how high up they were."Open the damn door, Rosa!" A low, very familiar voice rumbled outside.

Mia

When he reach around her waist and moved his hip closer to hers she couldn't help but start giggling, she gently punched his shoulder. "Stop," she said in between giggles. "You're going to smash your daughter," she took a moment to control herself.

"Yes, I'll contact Dom," pressing her hands on her flat stomach easing the pain that caused it minutes ago by non-stop laughter.

They spend a few more minutes talking until both of them fell asleep. Next thing she knew Brian was waking her up. "What?" the words not making an impact on her as she rubbed her eyes. "The cops?"

"Ok, wait. You stay here with Sienna and stop jumping out windows. I'll go with Rosa," she was taking a big risk of going to the living room with Rosa to open the door, but then that voice sounded so damn familiar.

She got out of the room following Rosa. "What the hell…" she stared to get angry know, if there was one thing she hated was to be woke up by someone's loud knocks on the door.

She exchange a few words in Portuguese with Rosa and went to see who was making all that noise that soon was going to wake up Sienna.


	9. Author's Note

I hope I don't get in trouble by adding a note instead of a chapter, I know the readers have been looking for a new chapter but if you've check the profile it is a Role Play type of thing meaning you as a reader/writer can become part of this story there are some characters available if you go to the profile page you'll see the ones you can choose just send us a PM with a sample of your writing and will get back at you. So..

Who's knocking on the door? This is your chance for input and also to become a player/writer of this story!


	10. Chapter 9

**A Fresh Start  
Chapter 9  
**

**A/N: **Thank you so much for the readers, the reviews and even if you do not leave review and follow the story and the PM people have sent that just makes our day! But I still have to say we still need a DOM & LETTY Role players and if you are interested please send a sample of your writing, which character you'll like to play and we'll read your sample and get back to you ASAP. Thanks and enjoy!

Brian

The moments in the bedroom passed by in slow motion. Anybody could be knocking on that door. From a friend of Rosa, to the police to...who knew. With his hand still at the window handle Brian listened to Mia opening the door with bated breath.

Just in case he tiptoed over to the bed and picked Sienna up. The baby complained a little when he pulled her to his chest with only one arm. As long as she'd hold still they should be fine.

Brian shot another glance out the window. Could he even escape on foot, one limp foot to be precise? The blonde had no weapons, no car no money.

The wooden apartment door swung open under Rosa's touch and she came face to face with a man she'd only met once before. A tall, muscle packed bald guy with a frown deeply engraved in his features and a low rumbling voice that carried for miles.

Without a word the guy pushed his way into the room to enclose his little sister in his broad arms."Mia." He whispered more gentle than anybody would deem possible before he held her at arms length and gave her the once over.

"Are you okay?" He gave her an inquisitive look not quite sure if her slightly bulging  
belly still meant that she was pregnant or not anymore.

***  
Mia

"Dom," she whispered his name as her arms snake around his neck. "Thank god you're here!" not wanting to let go of her brother. Her lips quiver when he started questioning her. "Yes, I am okay." She answered him.

"Brian!" she called out to her fiancé to see there was no danger. Rosa closed the door a little angry at him for knocking that loud but didn't stop their brother-sister moment. Nico came running to the living room and hid behind her mother asking who that stranger guy was.

Rosa answered the little boy by letting him know Dominic was a friend of her dad and also his uncle. Mia looked at Dom speechless lot of questions to be asked but couldn't. "Before I start shouting questions, I'd like you to meet…" she trailed off looking at the door opening and seconds later Brian step out with Sienna in his good arm.

**  
Brian/Dom

It had been way too long since his and his sisters ways had to part. Dom had made Brian over and over to keep his sister and himself out of trouble and keep a low profile so they'd never run danger that they'd get discovered and possibly sent to jail.

When his strong arms closed around her he held her tight just like he used to when Mia was a lot younger. For years Dom had been watching out for his little sister until she was old enough to take care of herself. The same old protective feelings washed over him now. "It's been way too long, Mia. I constantly had you and your baby on my mind." He simply couldn't grasp that his little sister should be a mother now.  
A gentle kiss was placed on her cheek.

As soon as she called his name Brian stepped out of the bedroom with his daughter in his arm. He knew he had recognized the deep voice. But to see the familiar bulky Italian put a huge smile on his face. His eyes sparkled when he closed the distance between them. "Dom! Good to see you."

Dom's gaze darkened when he laid eyes on Brian. "You promised me to keep her out of trouble!" Of course he had been following the news and it was hard to miss the crash and the following investigation and public search for Brian. "And now your face is all over the news."

To Brian's advantage Dom's eyes fell on little Sienna, which stopped his rage and put him in a daze while he carefully studied her. "Is that...?"

**  
Mia

"Stop Dominic and yes that little one is your niece," her hands were around his shoulders afraid he was going to hurt Brian more than he already was but the moment he saw Sienna he quickly change, like a light switch from 'On' to 'Off'.

She dropped her hands from his shoulders speaking to her brother. "We knew sooner or later something like this was going to happen. You said it once: "Freedom ain't running" but if that's all I have to do to protect her then I'll do it, I don't care,"

It wasn't anymore about Mia and only her or Brian, the moment Sienna was born their first priority wouldn't be to protect each other but to protect their daughter, the stakes were raised, they would run, die or kill for that little one in Brian's arms.

Mia was not a little girl anymore that she was once, she understood where Dominic was coming from but he also needed to understand she wasn't alone in this, she had Brian by her side.

**  
Brian/Dom

The way Mia was trying to hold him back made Dom smirk. He cast a glance at Brian meaning 'my little sis has to protect you…amusing', who replied with a stare.

For a moment when Dom was getting loud he took a step back to make sure Sienna wasn't getting in the way because he wasn't sure that Dom had noticed her.  
Then the look on the rough guys face changed to a very warm, gentle smile. He observed her for a moment trying to figure out who she looked like but couldn't get past how small she was.  
"She's tiny!" he stated the obvious but then gave Brian a smile before he wrapped his arm around Mia again and kissed her. "I'm so proud of you, mama."

He reached out his arms for Brian to pass him his niece. Without hesitation Brian gave him the tiny girl.

"Damn right, running ain't freedom but it's still a hell of a lot better than jail…and judging by the patrols going around the favelas your might be heading that way soon."

Brian cocked his head to the side at Dom's words and stepped to the window to look down at the street. "Are you serious about this?"With Sienna in his arms Dom sat down on a chair and rocked her back and forth.

"Unfortunately I think you're in trouble. Why did you have to put your pretty face on the news, Brian? Couldn't you look in the mirror?"

"Funny." Brian snarled without any humor. "That was an accident."  
"How did they match the car to you then?" Dom glared at him.  
Brian gasped because he had no answer to that question since he had carefully removed the chassis and engine numbers.

"Don't know man. I got rid of the numbers and ran away from the accident site as soon as I could."

He looked at Mia wondering whether he had made a mistake.

***  
Mia

She giggled like a little girl when her brother embraced her one more time but her smile was erased quick. "What?" she looked at Dominic when he started to tell Brian about the patrols in the favelas, it was just a matter of days to find them.

"Well, we have to do something. I'm telling you right now, he's not going anywhere" she emphasized the 'he' as she pointed to Brian.

She frowned looking at Sienna asleep in Dom's big arms. It was going to be hard to run out of Rio, she wasn't so much worried about Brian injuries it was going to take a couple of months to heal but what worry her was the tiny baby.

She pulled out a chair and sat down next to Dom placing her head in her hands for just a second. Could she really run away with the boys? Could she really place herself in harm's way with a baby who was still fighting to keep well and alive?

***  
Brian/Dom

Dom raised his brows at his sister and then looked at Brian. "I'm just saying. If Brian wants to stay out of jail he NEEDS to be going somewhere. You all need to."He corrected himself because he knew the three were inseparable now.  
"C'mon. The buster's not delay wounded! What else do you want to do, Mia?"  
He searched his sisters face.

"There's no negotiating with the cops here. Besides we all know where that got Letty." His expression was cold and motionless but everybody in the room knew exactly how he felt. Dom's words were meant to hurt. He wanted to make sure both his sister and Brian were on the same book as he was.

When Letty's name left Dom's lips Brian involuntarily flinched. Because he had let her become an informant knowing how dangerous he was he felt absolutely awful. He would never be able to look Dom in the eye the same way.

He watched Mia pull out a chair and put her head in her hands. She had been strong all the way to here, even for the past 24 hours when everything seemed to be going wrong with the accident and the way too early birth. Mia had ever right to be desperate. Brian stepped closer to her until her could crouch down next to her chair and look her in the worried face. "I know what you're thinking. Mia, nobody's after you. Nobody even know you were involved. Stay here with Sienna, just for a while until things blow over. Then follow us to wherever we're going."

Dom gently caressed Sienna's cheek who opened her eyes and immediately search for Mia. When she didn't find her she started to cry resulting in a low humming from Dom. "She sounds just like you." He teased Brian but handed Mia the squirming baby.

***  
Mia

Not only did Brian flinched when he heard Letty's name come out of Dom's lips also a shiver ran down Mia's spine. She received the baby in her arms and stood up from the chair. "I can't just let you and Dominic walk away… damn it..." she mutter the last two words, she wasn't looking forward to this.

But if she had no option, it tore her heart to know deep down Brian was right, Sienna needed to gain weight and also regulate her temperature still deep in thought she walked to the room a few hours ago she slept in and placed Sienna on the bed, she took her time to feed the baby and after making the baby burp change her diaper.

She sat there for a moment analyzing what Brian said about staying. If he decided to go it was going to take all of her will power not to run out that door to go after him and when all her emotions were finally under control she stepped out the room to join her brother and fiancé with wide awake Sienna in her arms.

***  
Brian/Dom

While Mia was next door Dom gave Brian the usual stern look. It was always an intimidating sight especially when you know that it could be followed up by a flex of Dom's impressive muscles, that could inflict a lot of pain. It wasn't hard to tell that Brian, even though he was trained in different Asian fighting techniques, usually came out on the bottom.

Finally Dom asked in a low, yet threatening voice in order not to startle the girls next door. 'What happened, Brian? You were supposed to take good care of her. Instead you end up on the news with the cops on your tail."

At first Brian wanted to throw back a few harsh words but Dom was right, he was supposed to protect Mia and Sienna, not endanger them. So he huffed and shrugged. "I have no idea. I can't remember anything. Only that I got pulled out of my wrecked car by some stranger. Maybe we left something in the car, maybe her purse…I don't know, bro!"

Brian's lack of knowledge sparked Dom's anger even more. Obviously he hadn't been careful."Was Mia in that car with you?"Before his anger reached a peak Brian was able to calm him down. "No, just me."

Behind them the woman, they were talking about appeared in the doorway, now a little more collected so both men shut up and turned to see her.

Dom got up and looked at the lively baby in her arms. "She's so tiny. Is she okay?"  
He reached out his large arms to receive the baby. "Let me hold my niece."

***  
Mia

She gave the wide awake baby to her brother. "She was born a little early, I have to keep her warm at all times, she cannot regulate her temperature and I have to feed her using a tube besides breastfeeding, it'll take a little time," she smiled as Sienna's blue eyes looked straight to Dom's face.

"You know, you need to work on your temper and also stop threaten people," she simply said knowing Dom's temper really well. It only took for her to look at Dom's eyes to read him completely a slow smiling appearing in her lips, difficult to hide.

"Can you watch her for a little bit? I'm going to the kitchen and make something so we can all eat," watching Sienna smiling at Dom as he started to make funny faces.

***  
Brian/Dom

The picture presenting itself in front of him had Brian smirk. Dom with his broad shoulders and muscles, the shaved head and deep voice with tiny little Sienna in his arms. She looked even smaller than in Mias arms.

"She's already got you wrapped around her finger, doesn't she."

Dom didn't look up at Brian but kept his gaze on the baby. "Yep, just like any other Toretto woman."

For a while silence fell in the room and Brian wasted a thought to what it would be like to leave without Mia. His pale blue eyes settled on Sienna. Even though he had just met her leaving her behind would be awful.

"If we can take her we should. I don't feel good about leaving Mia to fend for herself."

"She's a big girl, Brian. I hate to tell you but she doesn't need you."  
The truth hurt but Dom was probably right.  
"I just can't leave her behind."

Dom sat up straight and slowly looked up at Brian. "You got her into this mess, didn't you?" He left the rest unspoken.

Now Brian got defensive, his eyes narrowed slightly while he pushed his jaw forward. "if I recall it right, it was you who had the brilliant idea about our heist in Rio."

Dom swallowed and stared at Brian. "Watch what you say, Brian."  
He didn't need to make any threads. Brian knew that his future brother in law could easily snap his other arm in half if he wanted to. But just as sure as he was about that he knew Dom would never do that.

***  
Mia

She didn't wait for an answer; Dom would be more than happy to hold Sienna a little longer. As she started to cook, a way for her to keep herself busy and also to let her mind rest a little about what would happen in Brian decided to leave with Dom.

But it wasn't working… it took all of her will power to focus on what she was doing. She couldn't hear laughter in the other room where Brian and Dominic were that meant something was wrong between those two.

She walked to where the refrigerator was and opened the door, her eyes kept searching something to drink for her brother, Dom wasn't the one to drink water or coke when it came to having breakfast, lunch or dinner. She kept searching until she found one Corona in the back; it was probably Vince's…

She took the beer bottle carefully and placed it on the table. Thirty minutes later and the food was ready instead of telling the boys first she ate as quick as she could so she could spend time with Sienna, after finishing she set the table and walked out of the kitchen knocking softly on Rosa's room knowing Nico was with her mother.

She let them know it was time to eat closing the door slowly; lastly she joined the boys in the living room. "Food is ready," sitting down next to Dom, Sienna was full of energy even though she was still little Mia was expecting for the baby to go sleep once she fed her but the way the tiny baby was looking at Dom exposing those wonderful blue eyes…

***  
Brian/Dom

It took Mia a while to get their breakfast ready so Brian finally broke the silence and asked. "What about you? How have you been? Where have you been?"  
For a moment Dom looked at him as if he was going to say that it was none of his business but then looked at his hands. "I've been trying to tie up some loose ends…without any success."

Brian had no idea what that meant but he nodded. "Doesn't sound like staying out of trouble to me."

"You don't see my face on the news, do you?" Dom simply state without any anger but also without a smile.

"We should start thinking about where we should head from here."  
With a frown Brian agreed. Their place on the beach had been a nice, safe harbour for a while. Cozy and just for the two of them.

Too bad they had to give it up.  
"I really liked our small place on the coast." He was reminiscing but soon his thoughts went to the cause of their troubles. "I have no idea how the accident happened. I keep wondering whether it was my fault."

Dom simply shook his head. "I saw a picture on the news. That truck had cut across all lanes. Probably not your fault."

Brian's blue eyes darted up at Dom. This was the first thing he had heard about the accident, that weight so heavily on his conscience. "Were the other drivers dead?"

"No. Injured." Their conversation was interrupted by Mia letting them know that breakfast was ready.

Then Dom's attention was completely lost on Sienna, who was eyeing him curiously. Within an instant his harsh demeanor melted away exposing a gentle giant. "Hey, little girl. What you're looking at?" He smiled down and gently caressed her hand with his thumb.

Even Brian had to smile at the scene but when he got up to go and eat he winced painfully because he had accidently tried to push himself up with his broken arm. It took him a moment to let the wave of pain that had hit him slowly subside before he could go on. This would happen many more times for the next little while and made him wonder whether he was even apt to run from the police himself. Maybe it was better to stay in hiding for a s long as possible.

He quickly took Mia's hand and asked. "I need your input here. I'm really worried about staying here. But I also can't imagine leaving you two behind. Can we make it out of here and escape unharmed, all four of us?" He felt his throat tighten. Unusually he'd make a decision just for himself, by himself but now things were different. Brian had a family to look after.

***  
Mia

She never thought she'd see that side of Dom so opposite to how he was, knowing her brother really well he was sweet towards her of course she was his little sister but seeing him hold his niece , it was kind of cute to take a moment and really see and hear how Dominic spoke to Sienna and even took the time to give her kisses or play with her, so gentle yet a beast when it came to protecting his family.

When Brian took her hand she immediately knew the 'run out of Rio' topic was going to be brought up and she was right. It was hard to swallow the lump that formed in her throat she was so used to being close with Brian even when it came to running from her home, the day she came to Rio she wasn't alone, he was by her side and the thought of him not being around her and Sienna, it tore at her heart.

"Can we?" she hated to admit but she had her hands tied and with Sienna having issues with her temperature and to be dealing with this whole running from the law.

Mia could stand it but not Sienna and she felt cornered, caged instead she opted for avoiding the subject not wanting to feel more afraid and uncomfortable and pissed about the situation they were all in.

"Why don't you and Dom start eating… I'm just… not willing to discuss this, at least not today," she removed her hand from his grasp and went to Dom's side to take the wide awake baby from his strong arms walking deep in thought to "her bedroom".

***  
Brian/Dom

"Mia!" Brian objected. He didn't like how she brushed him off because they needed to make a decision. "We can't wait until they come knocking on Rosas door."  
His girlfriend chose to ignore him and went to the bedroom with their daughter.  
He sighed and sat down on the kitchen table where eggs and pancakes were steaming and giving off a delicious smell.

Frustrated he stuck his fork into some eggs and shoved them in his mouth. He hadn't eaten much for the past 24 hours so he needed to eat even though he didn't really want to.

"She's stubborn."

Dom sat down opposite of Brian and started shoving food in his mouth. In between chews he commented. "Tell me about it."

"I think I have no choice but leave and I'm not sure how Sienna will get along if we have to move around. She's born way too early and should actually be in an incubator."

For a moment Dom paused and even though there was no emotion on his face Brian knew he was he answered motioning for Brian's head, where a bruise was sacking down towards his right eyebrow. "You should probably be in the hospital, too, judging by your pretty looks." A smart smirk played on his lips before he continued. "My sister knows what she's doing. Let her decide."

Brian simply nodded and kept eating and drinking juice. "Rosa has a relative, who's a doctor. We'll run it past him and then decide."

In silence they finished what Mia had prepared for them and then Brian asked Rosa whether she had any more clothes of her late husband.

Rosa gave him some underwear and pants and a plain white t-shirt, which he took to the bedroom to change.

In the meantime Dom took the time to talk to Rosa."How are you doing, Rosa? Are you getting along?" The money had to be sufficient because Rosa had received a generous share of the last heist, which she only used when she had to to keep a low profile.

"It's going…but it's hard without him." Dom gave her a weak smile. Nobody missed Vince like the Latina. But even in his life had been a big emptiness since his friend died.

"I'm sorry. How is Nico?"

"Good. He misses him, too but he's starting to move on."

In the bedroom Brian dropped the used pants to the floor and inspected the impressive bruise on his leg that had been trapped in the car crash.  
He then struggled to put on the new pair of jeans, which were just like the first pair a little too wide and too short. He couldn't button them up by himself so he asked Mia for help. "Could you give me a hand, please?" With his eyes locked on her he wondered. "Were you and Vince ever together at some stage?"

***  
Mia

She could hear the words the moment she entered the room. After all she was stubborn when she wanted too, she played with Sienna until Brian came in with some of Vince's clothes that had a faint odor of Vince's perfume.

"Ouch," she whispered as she saw the enormous bruise on his leg. "Come here," she told him and help him being careful. The silence was broken by his next question that took her by surprise. "what? No…" she chuckled.

"I mean he had the hots for me but no, besides he grew up same as Dom and Letty so, I saw Vince more like a brother than something more and to be honest he wasn't my type. I prefer a guy that likes a tuna sandwich," remembering the first day she met Brian and he taking her breath away.

"Remember that day? When I asked you if you wanted the usual and that was tuna with no crust you said yes and decided to asked: "How's the tuna?" imitating Brian's voice. "and then I said…" standing up from the bed making sure Sienna was safe.

Placing her arms around his neck. ".. 'Now, it was crappy yesterday, it was crappy the day before. And guess what? It hasn't changed'. She leaned capturing his lips kissing him softly.

"I'm going to change the subject of the tuna for a 'I'm sorry about earlier'. It's hard to imagine you running with Dom and for me and Sienna not being there for you. We still need to wait for what the doctor says but I'm so used to be with you and it is scary just thinking watching you walk away to hide with my brother god knows where,"

"But… if the doctor denies for me to go with you…" the laughter was no more in her eyes or her voice "Then I'll stay until Sienna is better and ready to travel." Her voice started shaking so she decided to speak no more.

***  
Brian/Dom

He was glad that his girlfriend denied that she ever had an interest in the man, who had made Brian's life a living hell for the first little while.

Her imitation of the conversation they had almost eight years ago lightened the mood considerably and he had to laugh out loud. Brian laughed until his headache flared up and Sienna started to cry. Quickly he came around the bed to run his hand over her small back and whispered. "Hey, no need to cry. Tell your mom to be a little less funny." The small girl sobbed a little more but then closed her eyes. Brian pulled the blanket over her small body and cradled her in his arm while he laid down next to her.

He motioned for Mia to join him and when she was on the bed he looked her in the beautiful dark brown eyes and then softly said. "You, me and her like this. It's perfection. I wouldn't want to change it for the world...but I'm afraid the world might have different plans. It'll only be until she's fit enough."

Carefully he played with her small fingers that instinctively curled around his thumb, which look giant compared to hers.

It took another two hours until the doctor showed up, which they passed by watching the news and preparing for a possible good bye. Brian couldn't help but pace the floor and shoot antsy glances out the window because he was worried about the police walking in and putting them in cuffs any moment.

He also spent a good amount of the time trying to deal with his own pain in the bathroom because he would never show anything in Dom's presence unless there was no other way.

Finally the dark skinned man entered Rosas apartment with his black medical bag and an extra plastic bag, which contained formula and some medicine he had brought.

Leaving out a few important facts Dom and Brian explained that they needed to leave as soon as possible and that Brian needed to be as fit as possible.  
He asked the man whether he could get rid of the cast but wasn't surprised when he got an amused snort as answer. "Oh, não, você é louco."

Brian didn't need a translator for that. So he simply requested the strongest pain killers the doctor had and got rewarded with a shot of something that killed everything: Pain, sense of reality and orientation, which wasn't exactly the best thing for what they had planned.  
"Como você pediu. Desfrutar." Was his voice full of sarcasm?

When it came to Sienna the grey haired man wrinkled his brow and looked at her with a deep brown...

***  
Mia

By the look of Brian the only thing that could be injected into his system was some sort of sedative and he was going to be pissed when the drug wore off his body, but the way Dom would see it… he was having a blast with Brian but when the doctor started to examine Sienna…

She looked at Dominic and both Toretto siblings share that same uneasy feeling, that frown on the doctors forehead. In her head she ran through her mental list about feeding her every two hours not only breast feeding but tube feeding too, keep warm at all times, changing diapers as quick as she could so Sienna wouldn't be that much exposed to the cool air. Was she doing something wrong? Did she forget to do something?

Her gaze went to Brian who was starting to fall asleep, she was glad she didn't have to hear what Sal had to say but once he woke she was going to have to tell him about how their daughter was doing.

"What's wrong?" it was making her go all crazy not hearing the man say a word. She switched to Portuguese maybe the doctor didn't want to say it out loud? Was she over reacting? "I did everything you said, please talk to me…" the doctor's eyes focused on Mia and she braced herself to hear his conclusion on Sienna.

**A/N #2:** Some words in Portuguese were added to the story and here it's the meaning of those words:  
"Oh, não, você é louco." – Oh, no. Are you crazy?  
""Como você pediu. Desfrutar." – As you requested. Enjoy!.

Also as you all noticed Dom finally decided to show is play by my partner who role plays Brian but it's kind of hard to wrap your mind around Dom so if you are interested PLEASE don't forget to send your sample writing =)


	11. Chapter 10

A Fresh Start  
Chapter 10

Brian/Dom

Everything became one gigantic blur for Brian as he sat back in the chair and enjoyed being mostly pain free. He had a strange tingling sensation throughout his body and felt the need to get up and watch whatever the doctor was doing to his baby daughter but he feared that he simply couldn't because his legs had become rubber.

Dom tried to stay in the background because he knew that he'd get upset if he watched the small girl getting prodded. Brian could handle himself but his niece didn't understand why anybody would hurt her. So when she started crying Dom's face became like an iron mask while a tightness in his chest made breathing hard.

Brian on the contrary darted up and walked over to the man with the stethoscope so fast that he ran into the coffee table, which man him stumble all the way across the room to the sofa where he was looking at Sienna and listening to her heart.

Brian narrowed his eyes to focus and see what he was doing, then slurred. "What's going on? Is she okay to come or not?"

Dom lost his nerve and got up, grabbed his future brother in law from behind and pulled him back. "Sit on your ass until he's done." With that he sat back down with his arms folded across his chest making sure Brian was behaving.

Mia

Brian was so drugged it was funny and yet she understood him. Mia eyed Dom and saw her brother's face when Sienna started to cry and then Brian stood up to fast plus the drugs in his system made him almost flew to the other side of where she was with the doctor.

She was glad her brother did something about it and make Brian stayed on the sofa. "So? What's going on?" she was a nurse but at the moment her mind wasn't functioning not when her daughter was crying and screaming at the top of her lungs and not when the patient was her little girl.

"Come on, help me out here…say something!" the last two words came out harsher than she wanted too but she was getting frustrated at this point.

Brian/Dom

Brian

The doctor took Sienna's temperature and checked for possible signs of pneumonia. Then he shook his head. Of course he understood the woman's nerves were raw.

"If you want my opinion as doctor I'm telling you to put her back in the hospital in an incubator. She might develop an inflammation of the intestines."

He turned around to face the shocked onlookers.

"I don't know what you have done that you have to hide but this little girl doesn't deserve having her life being out at risk over it."With that he stood up and let his stethoscope dangle from his neck."Your choice."

Dom's eyes had become slits by now and he looked very dangerous but Brian couldn't wrap his dazed mind around what the doctor had said.

"Can't you just give her some medicine? C'mon. You can help us if you want to."

Now it was the doctors turn to huff angrily at the American. "You have no idea. You're playing with her life."

Brian wrinkled his brow as if he didn't understand what the man meant and stood up again to take a closer look at Sienna as if he could see what was going on.

"Sit down, buster." Dom growled before he went over to Mia and looked at her seriously. "You make the right decision, sister." Then he turned to leave.

"I'll wait outside."

Mia

The air slammed out of her lungs so fast she was glad a sofa was nearby… just two days… that's all it took to place Sienna in more danger than she already was. "What…" she couldn'tspeak. She was at a loss of words… her entire body felt numb and when Dom approach is what like he wasn't there.

"I'll take her back to the hospital tonight. Thanks…" She took the small baby in her arms and stood up walking to the room. She took a diaper bag and started to pack the necessary placing Sienna on the bed between some pillows.

Her hands shaking placed the necessary, her hold tighten on the bag afraid she was going to throw it across the room, instead she sat on the bed next to Sienna, knees to her chest as reality hit her breaking down her walls. She covered her mouth as the sobs rocked her body and tears streamed down her face.

"Oh god…" she rocked herself back and forth, the patrols in the favelas, Dom and Brian had to leave, Brian's health wasn't that great and her baby had to go back to that place she didn't want to go back.

The pressure was so much that her stomach turned and in a heartbeat she ran to the restroom as she spilled out her breakfast on the toilet, she stayed on the ground as she flushed the toilet and waited for her dizziness to let her stand up.

Brian

Dom could barely keep it together himself. He knew exactly how desperate Mia had to be to take the baby out of the hospital but her health was more important than any of their freedom. He trusted his sister to realize that and gave her the room she needed even though he wanted to support her, which was supposed to be Brian's job.

Brian on the other hand had his troubles putting two and two together and sat on the chair dumbstruck when Mia dashed away with their daughter and then man started packing his stuff. "So you can't help her?"

"No." The man answered in a slightly milder tone. "Do the right thing and bring her to a childrens hospital." With that he left Brian sitting there who was starting to see the whole oicture through his clouded mind.

He struggled to get up to find Mia but only saw Sienna in between some pillows on the bed so he kept looking and eventually made it to the bathroom where he spotted her on the floor sobbing, Immediately he was down on his knees next to her and wrapped his free arm around her midsection from behind.

"Shhhh, Mia. It'll all be good. Don't worry." His speech was slow but sure.

The next second her sobs and tear streaked face made his insides crumble as well. Before he could fight it he was welling up. "Is this goodbye?" He could suddenly feel a jab in his heart that was much worse than his broken arm and wouldn't be cured by any painkillers.

Mia

She cried until she was empty from feeling those emotions thankful that Brian was by her side, she covered his hand with her own and waited a few more minutes on the floor until she was strong enough. "Sooner or later the police is going to start searching house by house in this entire favela and you can't stay,"

"I really don't want you or Dom to go," a new set of fresh tears filled her eyes. "But I do know that Sienna is not healthy enough to travel with us which means I need to stay to look after her. I have to take her to the hospital so she could stay for god-knows how long," she paused for a quick moment.

"I swore I'll never let you go knowing how hard it was for us to make it when Braga was around and with Letty's death… buy by not letting you go, that's… that's a selfish thing for me to do,"

"Not when your life's at stake," with the help of Brian she washed her hands and rinsed her mouth. They stood in the doorway of the bathroom. "I don't know how to say goodbye… I don't want to but I have to," crawling to bed taking a fussy Sienna in her arms.

Brian

Mia's cries drained every bit of energy from Brian and he was ready to tell her anything. So he whispered into her hair. "Shhh, please don't cry. I won't leave. Stop crying." It was literally tearing him apart on the insides to see her in such mystery.

Brian knew he had hurt Mia a few times before…when he didn't tell her he was a cop or left her but now he felt much closer to her and simply couldn't bare it.

For a while he rubbed her back and closed his eyes but everytime he did he got so sleepy that he had to force them open to stay awake.

Finally she pulled away from his arms leaving him standing there…empty. He followed her with his gaze. How to say goodbye when you don't know for how long? When you don't know whether you will ever see each other again?

Suddenly Brian felt like he couldn't do it even if he ran risk of being arrested. He'd rather go to jail than put Mia through so much heart ache. Then again if he had to go to prison she'd be even more devastated because he'd be put away for a long time…maybe until Sienna was a grown woman and she'd never know him.

"No." He gasped to fast but shaky steps he walked over to her and sat down next to his girlfriend. "I have to go. I'm so sorry, Mia but if they catch me, the two of you will be even more unhappy. It's just for a little while until she's okay." Even his clouded mind was able to comprehend that this way the best thing to do.

Carefully he picked up his baby daughter to hold her one last time…a least for a while. The thought alone brought tears to his eyes and her soft skin and fast breaths overwhelmed him. Instead of starting to cry himself he handed her back to Mia and fought against the lump in his he leaned down and place a long, passionate kiss on her lips. "We'll get married when she's okay."

Before the tears glistening in his eyes could drop he pulled away and turned around and swayed to the front door without another look back.

Mia

Everything happen so fast, to have his voice whisper to her as he caressed her back, his touch so warm. The drugs weren't wearing off that quick from Brian's body but he still comprehended what was happening.

She didn't say a thing when he carefully took Sienna in his arms and kissed her forehead, it was a bittersweet moment for the two of them. When he leaned down and kissed Mia, her hands took good hold of his shirt not wanting him to go from her side but her hands decided to loose the tight grasp she had on his shirt, she tried to shout the moment he turned around and walk out of the room but the lump in her throat prevented her from doing so.

She just hoped Dom took good care of him, she just hoped for Sienna to get well. She just hoped to have him back with her… she took the bag and Sienna as she walk to the kitchen where she spotted Rosa.

"Rosa, can you take me to the children's hospital, please?" Rosa didn't think twice and stopped what she was doing hurrying to Mia's side. There was no sound outside, Was Dom still outside with Brian? Did they go? Sienna started to cry and her breathing seemed a little faster than when Brian lift her smaller body. "We have to hurry,"

Brian

It took more than a few deep breath for Brian to regain his composure. In front of the door Dom was waiting so he had to pull himself together so he choked back the tears and wiped the few that had fallen from his face.

Dom would never understand why he was so weak but he didn't know how much it hurt to leave the one person behind he loved more than anything in the world even though he had just met her a day ago and on top of that the love of his life.

He turned away from Dom to hide his red face and was about to stumble down the stairs but instead of letting him pass Dom stood up from his seat on the stone stairs and turned Brian around, then wrapped his large arms around his friend. For a moment he just waited. "I understand."

A moment later he clapped him on the back and said. "Now blow your nose and let's go before you have a real reason to cry because the cops put a bullet between your shoulder blades."

Brian nodded at the unexpected emotions and cleared his throat. "let's go."

Together they made their way down the stairs without another look back, one of the fast, the other one swaying and slow.

Mia

She opened the door and didn't see Dom or Brian waiting for her, her heart ache for them she walked down the stairs and could see two figures walking away, definitely her brother and Brian. She turned to Rosa. "Can you hold her for a moment?" the brazilian woman didn't hesitate to take the baby in her arms.

Mia started to run towards them, she still had one more goodbye to say, a huge risk she was taking. "Dom!" she shouted his name, she was out of breath but that didn't stop her, lungs burning for air, legs screaming at her to stop.

When he turned she threw herself at him. "Take good care of him," she simply said. "… and please be careful," giving him a quick kiss on his cheek whispering in his ear. 'I love you'.

She then looked at Brian it was hard for him to hide how he felt. His beautiful blue eyes were red same as his nose, her hand wiped his cheek feeling the wetness of his tears. "It won't be that long," she said softly and spoke only to him. "Make sure you get well, don't worry about me or your daughter, we'll be fine," returning that long kiss he gave her back at Rosa's. "I love you,"

She turned when a car honk at her, it was Rosa with Sienna who was placed in a special seat in the back. "Don't worry about us," she spoke out loud so that Dom and Brian could hear her. "bye," removing her hands from Brian's face slowly walking down the steep street to where Rosa was.

Brian/Dom

Both men were surprised to find Mia run after them and give Dom one last, big hug. Dom quickly scanned the area to make sure his little sister wasn't getting in trouble by being seeen with him in public. Then he squeezed his eyes shut and enjoyed the hug. "I love you too, Mia."

The he gave Brian a mock hit on the back of his head. "I'll make sure he doesn't get behind the wheel any time soon...oh and that no cop gets his hand on this new outlaw."

Brian smirked at the weird sound of it. Not too long ago he had been the cop.

One more time he hugged and kissed Mia goodbye which didn't make it any easier and made his eyes sting again."Tell her I love her every day. I'll call you soon."

Mia ran off towards Rosas car and with that their ways parted.

Dom led Brian to a back alley where he had paid two teenagers to watch his car. It was an old beat up RX but nevertheless an RX.

Brian stopped to look at the vehicle and then at Dom. "Not riding in style any more, are you?" Dom just growled. "Get in." Then they were on their way through the streets of Rio.

Mia

The ride to the hospital was quiet and the moment the car stopped she took the baby in her arms and ran inside the hospital only to be greeted by a nurse, the nurse's smile disappear when Mia's worry words were heard. "I need help," just as Sienna started crying at the top of her lungs, her breathing becoming worse...

Dom

Driving through the streets of Rio was nothing unusual to him, what had his mind worry was her sister and niece. Not only him but Brian share that same feeling, he had no idea where he and Brian were going to end up staying not that he gave too much thought at the moment.

"She'll be all right," his unique voice told Brian in a way for him to ease his mind. If Letty was still alive and he was placed in the position where Brian was a few moments ago of leaving the love of his life and child, he would be tore too. He just prayed Sienna got better so he could hold that little girl in his arms and also to have his sister back too… for Brian's sake.

Brian

Brian heard Dom's words while his gaze was on the streets that were flying by outside the car window but they never reached him. He was too worried and right now caught up in his feeling of leaving Mia and the baby behind. He wished he didn't have to do that. Brian had promised mia to always be there for her and never let her down. Right now he was just to save his own butt and that feeling dragged him down like concrete tied to his feet in the ocean.

A deep frown had set on his face and his throat was tight and dry. Uneasily he shifted in his seat. The buzz of the shot he had received was slowly wearing off leaving him lonely and upset. At least his elbow didn't hurt much right now. Absentmindedly he cradled the cast in his other arm like he had done with Sienna before.

Finally he rolled his head to see Dom and asked. "Where are we going?" He purposely avoided talking about the girls.

At the hospital Sienna was immediately brought to the neonatal care where she got checked over, placed in an incubator and got some breathing assistance. It didn't take long for the samedoctor to show up and scold Mia for her carelessness. When he was done and Mia was completely down he assured her that Sienna would be fine though.

Dom

He didn't mention Mia or Sienna noticing how Brian was shutting down not wanting to go there. The sight from the Corcovado was barely visible as Dom kept driving out of Rio de Janeiro.

He thought about going to where Han and Giselle were since he couldn't drive to Mexico and the U.S. wasn't a good idea also considering the police were all looking for them. They were the closer ones to go and stay at the moment.

"Berlin. Han and Giselle are waiting for us…" that alone moment he had when Brian was inside with his sister he took the time to make a quick phone call to his friend telling him a short version about what had happen and when Dom finished talking Giselle spoke and ask him to come to Berlin to stay, once Mia had the green light then she was more than welcome to stay with them too.

Brian

Brian raised his brows in question "Germany?" Europe was one of the last places he had been thinking about because Interpol was very present there and it was probably hard to get in and out of it but it probably was as good as any other place.

"Sounds good to me." He nodded his approval. At least it was more civilized than some African countries with their poor infrastructure.

"We stashed some of our cash at an old ruin a few miles out of town. Let's grab that before we head out of the country."

Brian then resumed looking out the window and not talking much because he was too sad and worried about Sienna.

Only when they reached the old, run down farm house, did he get out to go and get the money.

The rest of the day they drove and drove to get as far away from Rio as they possibly could.

It was already getting dark when Brian sat up in his seat groaning a little because the medication was wearing off and asked Dom. "Can you call the hospital and ask how they are doing? There's a public phone over there."

Dom

He sat there thinking about it, he knew that if he picked his phone and contacted his sister, the news about his niece were not going to be something he was ready to hear and for him to tell Brian about it.

But if he didn't call his sister he was going to have to do it someday and the news might be the same. So, he took the chance and stopped the car getting out and picking up the phone as he dialed and placed a few coins.

Mia

She sat in the waiting area with Rosa, two hours and she still didn't know a thing about Sienna other than she was going to be fine, it was a good thing Brian wasn't with her but she also needed him so bad. She held Rosa's phone in her hands, the cell phone started ringing and Mia took the call, there was only one person who could be calling from a unknown location.

"Dom?" her voice trailed off a little and waited for Dom to finish.

"We got here just in time, she had problems breathing, the doctor told me she was placed in an incubator and had some breathing assistance." Dom could tell Mia was hurting and it was understandable. "How's Brian?"

"Worried," Dom said.

Dom

He exchanged a few words with his sister before hanging up and returning to the car. "Mia entered the hospital just in time, Sienna had difficulty breathing, she's now in an incubator with some breathing assistance, the doctor got mad at Mia but assure her my niece was going to be fine," he looked at Brian when he stopped talking.

Brian

Even though Dom remained very calm in his demeanor and voice Brian's gut dropped when he heard about the breathing assistance. Anxiety spread through him quicker than he knew how to deal with it and before Dom could even finish his words he desperately fumbled around on the door grip, pushed it open and was out of the car stumbling away from it.

He could feel the air getting sucked from his own body. All he wanted to do is crumble and cry. "Why? Not my little girl?"He found himself leaning his head against the wall of an old, run down restaurant and all he wanted to do is knock his own head against the stones for being so selfish and stupid to take Sienna out of the hospital.

If his head hadn't still hurt so badly from the crash he might have even done it.

Now he just hammered his good fist against it and cursed. "I'm such an idiot!"

If could make everything undone he would do it right now but then again there were many turns in the road, where he chose the wrong one. Never this fatal though. Tears started filling his eyes because of anger against himself and fear for his daughter.

At the hospital staff started running into Sienna's room quickly alarmed by one of the monitors. One of the nurses held Mia back and said. "One moment, just wait here." She motioned for a few seats in the hallway.

Dom

Dom approached to Brian's side placing him in a bear hug dragging him to the car, he understood his frustration, he felt the same way, he felt pissed and useless not been able to bring his sister and niece with him, but boy was Brian taking it really bad… he wished he could've take his words back and maybe if he share a little lie he'd believe it and wouldn't be like the way he was right now.

"Listen to me… Mia said Sienna was stabilized and was going to be fine," He offered Brian some water and waited a few minutes before he started to drive once again.

Mia

"No! I won't wait I need to know what's going on with my daughter!" When before she felt with no energy now had lots of strength, she ran to the window of where her daughter was to get a better look to the inside. There were lots of nurses inside and two doctors, she couldn't see Sienna and the curtains were being closed.

She leaned her head on the window. "I wish you were here, Brian…" shedding a few tears, her head was pounding with pain, she wouldn't wait, she wouldn't sleep, she wouldn't eat until she knew Sienna's condition better other than a 'she'll be fine'.

Brian

Dom's bear hug came as a surprise but even though it was meant in friendly way Brian felt restricted and dragged away against his will, which only added to his bad emotions. He pushed against Dom's tight grip but gave up as soon as the pain in his broken arm flared up. So Dom could pull him to the car to talk some sense into him.

"How can she know that she will be fine?" He asked with his brow wrinkled but a bit of hope in his heart.

He pulled the door closed and let his head fall against the headrest. A moment later they were on the road again headed for the border which was hours away, which Brian used to stare out the window and picture worst case scenarios, contemplated to beg Dom to turn around and then decided to let that thought go. The next few hours were tough and Brian was happy when they finally stopped for lunch so he could call Mia again.

By now the shot had worn off and he wished he had something to dull it again. Maybe Dom could hit him over the head. That would do the trick.

He crawled out of the car and walked towards a small restaurant on the side of the street, which had a few cars parked in front of it.

***  
Hospital

The doctors did their best to stabilize the little girl. It took a while until her heart rate had return to an acceptable level and she was breathing fine. A nurse finally came to get Mia and nodded. "You can see her now."

***  
Dom

He followed his brother-in-law, he didn't said anything but read his mind when he saw Brian walked to the restaurant. It didn't mean only a place to eat but also a place with a phone, he was damn sure Brian was going to call his sister, but if he tried to stop him it wasn't going to change Brian's mind. Dom just wish Mia would lie to Brian than to see him angry and desperate not being able to be with his daughter.

He ran to Brian's side. "Let's eat first before you call Mia," seeing Brian in a hurry, not to eat but to get to the phone. He was glad when Brian followed Dom and sat down across from him.

Mia

She walked carefully inside the room, she hated hospitals but Sienna needed to be here… "Hey you," Sienna was wide awake, her little blue eyes looking straight at Mia.

Sienna started to cry sensing how mommy was. "Shh… I'm not going anywhere," her voice trailed off. When did it all go downhill? She wondered how Brian was in that instant and what if he called her? He couldn't know she was crying, he had a lot in his plate and just imaging how his reaction was when Dom shared the news…

She walked around the room, her hand suddenly taking support in one of the walls, everything about her started spinning for a moment, she hadn't eat since knowing and seeing how Sienna stopped breathing... she didn't need a mirror to see she was as pale as a sheet of paper because she could feel it, her body started to show her.

Purple spots danced around her, every time she blinked there were more and more… she sat on the floor having notice a chair across the room but by the time she was near that chair she was going to faint, she leaned on the wall taking deep breaths. "Damn…." She muttered closing her eyes realizing it wasn't getting any better afraid a doctor or a nurse was going to walked in and find her sitting on the cold floor.

Brian

He wasn't in the mood for a delicious meal but knew he had to eat something to keep his strength up for the road ahead so Brian ordered meat and potatoes with green beans, which was about the only dish he recognized on the Portuguese menu.

Then he took a quick sip from a glass of water, which the waitress had placed in front of them.

"Excuse me." He got up to go and use the bathroom and possibly a pay phone if there was one back there before the food arrived.

On his way to the bathroom he could feel how the events of the past few days had drained all energy from him. Brian felt low and lost without Mia by his side. He had gotten so used to always being with her that it was as if one of his arms was missing. Even Dom couldn't replace his sister.

The ex-cop stopped at an old black phone on the wall near the bathrooms. Quickly he fumbled out a few coins and dialed the cell.

It rang and rang but no answer, so Brian tried again assuming he had the wrong number but got the same result. Nervously he tried again but the phone kept ringing.

"Damn, Mia, pick up." He barked into the phone.

A nurse was walking down the hallway and heard the reapeated sound of the phone. When she check what was causing it she spotted Mia on the floor, white as a sheet and in a position that had to be uncomfortable.

"Ajuda por favor." (Help please) She called for help before she addressed Mia and felt her pulse on her neck.

"São você okey? Você desmaiou?" The young woman wondered whether she fainted. In the background the baby had started crying loudly.

Confused and worried Brian returned to the table where Dom had already started eating his meal. "Mia's not answering her phone. I tried three times."

Mia

It was like she wished to be found, she opened her eyes, and shook her head to the nurse. "Don't call for help, I'm fine. Just a little dizzy, please don't call for help"

"No, I didn't faint." She answered in Portuguese trying to ease the young nurse's mind. She stood up from the floor and walked to the incubator.

"Shh…" she then turned to the young nurse. "If you can bring me a coke that'll be wonderful. I'm a nurse too, I'm okay" she explained again seeing how alarmed the nurse was.

She took out the phone from her pocket and noticed 3 missed calls. "Shit! Call again…come on, Brian…call again,"

Dom

"We'll call again once you're done eating," pushing the plate to Brian motion him to eat. "Unless you want me to feed you like I did with my niece," he kept eating.

It was weird for Mia not to pick up, maybe she didn't hear the phone? Hospitals in Brazil were known for always have emergencies, maybe because of the people she didn't hear the phone ring? He didn't think too much of it for now..he just wanted for Brian to eat something.

Brian pushed his jaw forward at Dom's reply and the plate that got shoved in front of him but decided that he might as well eat and then try. Maybe Mia had gone to the bathroom or had bad reception...but why not before.

With a sigh he grabbed the fork and shoveled some potatoes into his mouth in good old cowboy fashion. When it came to the piece of meat, that lay uncut on his plate, he was at a loss.

He took the knife in his left hand and attempted to cut the meat but with his arm in a cast at a ninety degree angle it was damn near impossible to use the knife and on top it hurt so he dropped the knife and proceeded to bite into the big piece of meat. Chewing on the big bite he muttered. "Don't even think about helping me!"

The nurse gave Mia a worried look but helped her up and let her be. "Sit down and put your feet up." She advised in Portuguese. "You're no help to your daughter like this."

She then came over to check Sienna's monitor. "It's okay now. But she needs to keep the heart rate monitor to make sure she's fine. When you're ready feed her."

She was too absorbed in her medical procedures to actually care about Mia's feelings unlike the nurse the day earlier.

Dom

"I won't," Dom replied still eating. His mind also trying to figure out about his sister not picking up the phone.

He kept looking at Brian and noticed he was almost done eating. "Good boy, Buster. You're almost done," he let out his unique laugh and continue eating, looking at the phone that was in a corner of the restaurant and as soon as Brian was done he was going to run to pick up that phone again….

Mia

"I will…" she sat down placing her feet up. She hated people like that nurse that just walked out of the room. She took out the phone again and looked at it for a minute. "Call again Brian…come on…" she placed her head back and closed her eyes for a moment. "Call again…"

Brian

Brian barely noticed how the food tasted because his mind was too preoccupied with Mia and Sienna. Every now and then he looked up at Dom and even though Dom's face rarely gave away any sort of emotion Brian could read some worry into her brothers face.

He only gave him a brief stare when he called him 'good boy' and his favorite nick name 'buster' that still stuck from eight years ago.

So when Brian was done he got up without a word and walked over to the phone again. He could feel the phone slip a little in his sweaty palms before he dialed Mia's number. "C'mon, pick up, please."It rang and rang.

Mia

The phone started to vibrate and ring in her hands, she immediately answer the call, only when she heard her name knew who was at the other end of the line. Her eyes filled with tears but he couldn't notice she'd been crying. "Brian, thank god… don't worry Sienna is fine…" she bit her bottom lip when she said her daughter's name.

"Where are you guys going to stay? Have you been eating? How's your arm?" Questions that she needed an answer a way for her to not break down. "How's Dom treating you?" she started a small conversation not giving him a chance to talk, she waited for his answer to every single question.

Brian

As soon as she picked up the phone Brian could tell by the sound of her voice that she was under stress yet Mia told him Sienna was fine.

Instead of waiting for Brian to ask how she was doings she bombarded him with questions, which was odd.

"Shhh, calm down." He quietly said into the phone. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dom watch him and raise his chin as if to ask if she was okay so Brian nodded over to her brother, then answered.

"I'm okay, no need to worry about me and your brother is unusually nice so...what's going on with you? i tried calling you before dinner and you didn't pick up. Are you okay? What exactly si going on with Sienna."

Brian's voice got a little harder when he demanded. "Tell me the whole truth, Mia."

Mia

"Brian, she's doing fine, yes she had a little problem breathing when I brought her back to the hospital, they stabilize her and she's in an incubator. She's fine…" A shiver traveled through her entire body when she heard the sudden change on Brian's voice.

"The hospital was full of people, emergencies kept coming in and I didn't hear the phone, I am in Sienna's room right now, she's doing fine, I'll feed her in a little bit and compared to the waiting area is quiet here…"

"Don't worry about me. I'm okay…" she spoke in a calm tone knowing Brian was lying about being okay. They knew each other like an open book but at the same time they weren't looking forward to stress each other even more by sharing how really they were both feeling.

Brian

"Well, you don't sound okay." Brian complained but he also knew they were both holding back on their true feelings.

"Just do me a favor and tell me if something major is happening. I'd do anything for you two." He then smooched into the phone and added. "I love you, babe. Both of you. Give my girl a kiss. I'll call you again tomorrow."

He then returned to Dom slightly relieved. "She answered now. To be honest Mia doesn't sound good but she said everything was fine...I'm not buying it."

Both men knew they had to head on so Brian waited for Dom to pay since he had no money on him because he was wearing Vince's clothes.

***  
Mia

"I'm fine just tired," she started to say to calm his nerves. "I know you'd do anything for us, I love you too and I'll give her your kiss, take care" she ended the call and she was met with baby heart monitor and her heart broke all over again.

She approached the incubator. "Time to feed you, sweetie..." Her tired eyes kept looking at the little girl. "I couldn't worry your dad more than he already is,"

Dom

He frowned when he heard Brian's words. He knew his sister very well same as Brian and there was a reason behind every word she didn't share not when Brian or him weren't by her side, not to worry them more, there was something going on with his niece.

"Give her time, Brian…" he comment. He took out money from his pocket and paid for their meal, they got out of the restaurant and entered the car, once Dom started driving, each men lost themselves in their own thoughts.

Brian

It was a long drive to the border and they had to stop every now and then but the further they got away from Rio the more lost Brian felt, like there was no turning back.

If only he had known how right he was when he was standing on the side of the road taking a piss and looking back into the general direction of Rio. Not even a minute later he saw a car pass them and spotted the red break lights come on out of the corner of his eye. When he fully turned his head he froze because the car was a police car.

As fast but at the same time calm as he could he walked back towards the open car door when one of the officers addressed him.

"Desculpe-me, pare e levante as suas mãos portanto posso vê-los."

Brian had no idea what the cop said but he understood the word hands so he had to be saying 'hands up or I'll shoot'.

Instead of following the order he ignored it, jumped into the car and shouted at Dom who was snoozing. "Drive, man, cops!"

Little Sienna was lively enough to suckle on her mothers breast a little but had developed a bit of temperature so she was quite fuzzy and weak. Skin to skin she fell back into an uneasy sleep on her mother. Instead of taking her away the nurse place the comforter over the baby and left her on Mia. "Try again soon."

Dom

Dom was getting all comfortable taking a quick nap in the mean time Brian did his business; he was abruptly woken up by Brian. The only words that understood was 'cops' and without thinking twice he pressed on the gas making sure Brian closed the door. He kept speeding looking in the rear view mirror. Damn cops were still following them; he started to entered through different streets trying to get rid of the cops.

"Shit" he muttered under his breath, adrenaline rushing through every single vein in his body, heart pumping, legs shaking and speed. Speed. That's all he needed right now to get his butt safe as well as Brian's.

Mia

"Sienna…" she softly repeated the baby's name who was asleep in her arms. Her little forehead hot to the touch, she just wish to be with Dom and Brian, she just wish for Sienna to get well as soon as possible, daddy and uncle were waiting for them god knows where.

She took a deep breath; if Brian called her again… she wasn't sure if she could keep it together. Her daughter was getting worse and it didn't help she felt her hands were tied. She was a nurse, she knew what to do in this case, she'd seen cases and worked with children before but when it came to her own child, everything went out the window.

Brian

Despite his nap Dom had the engine howling in no time and took off from the emergency lane leaving the cops in a cloud of dust.

The seemed to have anticipated the move and were shooting onto the highway behind them. Brian turned in his seat to see what was going on and yelled at Dom. "Better put you pedal to the metal or they'll catch up. The driver is pretty good."

Of course both men knew that the driver wasn't a match for Dom and the car was fast from what the old Muscle car could do yet Brian was worried.

"getting out the guns, Dom!"

Next thing he knew he got thrown around so hard that his head connected the with window once again because the turn Dom had taken was so sharp that he was cutting across a patch of grass and the curb. Brian winced but kept glancing back. Netx thing he knew a bullet flew through the window right past his head.

"Shit" he cursed.

Dom

Dom duck as he heard Brian curse, he kept his foot on the pedal but the cops were faster. He kept trying to get rid of them by making turn every once in a while, he couldn't stop even when they had on their laps broken glass.

For about ten minutes… he kept trying to lose the cops and when he looked in the mirror, he couldn't hear or see any police cars, but still he didn't stop.

The enormous statue of Christ the Redeemer was nowhere to be seen. Were they out of Rio? Not uttering a word he kept driving as fast as he could.

Brian

Dom once again put his impressive driving skills on display when he gained more and more distance during the chase. It was clear right from the start that the cops didn't stand a chance against his car and abilities unless they ordered a helicopter.

Wearily Brian turned to see whether there were still cops in the area of maybe overhead when he suddenly spotted the search light above them.

"Helicopter!" He yelled at Dom.

It was crucial that they found some sort of dense grid of streets of a tunnel to escape the air surveillance.

As quickly as he could Dom pulled the brake to swing the back of his car around and go the other way to find a few back alleys. The roar of the engine brought chills to Brian's skin. His gaze fell on the fuel gaze, which was awfully close to Empty. "You might want to take a pit stop." He motioned for it.

Dom

"Are you kidding me!" when he turned directions he was greeted by a few alleys, hopefully the car would fit in so they could escape, but what worry him the most was how little fuel this car had.

The light of the helicopter kept searching around, he sped up he didn't know for how long he kept this game of running away from the cops but when he let his gaze take a quick peek at the sky it was dark, that explain the helicopter light looking for them.

Once the helicopter lights weren't a threat he followed Brian's advice not forgetting to take a quick look out the window every two minutes.

Brian

Carefully and with their lights turned off the two rolled into one of the next gas station to fuel up. While Dom was pumping gas Brian kept his eye on the sky and streets because he knew that if they sent a chopper after them, they wouldn't give up that easily.

"Hurry up." he told Dom who was about to pay. "They're only giving us a moment to breath. they haven't given up yet."

He was on edge, every muscle in his body tense while he waited for Dom to return, who had left the keys with Brian, just in case. Sure enough Brian could hear the helicopter before he could actually see him because he was flying so low. It would only be a matter of seconds before the search lights would be on them again.

"Dom!" He yelled on top of his lungs at the same moment he ran around the car and jumped into the driver seat.

The key was shoved in the ignition turned and his foot on the clutch and gas at the same time. Dom was barely in the passenger seat when he let go of the clutch leaving half the tire on the cement of the station. Easily he shifted into second and sped onto the main four lane road, which was filled with evening traffic.

"Told you!" He said while he was still wondering whether he'd wreck Dom's pride and joy with only one good arm to use.

Dom

From inside the small store he heard Brian's shout his name, he didn't wait to get his change back, he swung the door open and ran to the car whose engine was roaring thanks to Brian who was now in the pilot seat, he barely jumped inside the car and closed the door.

"Shit!" he cursed under his breath as he focus on the road ahead of him even though he wasn't the one driving the vehicle and to make matter worse they were going to get stuck in traffic if Brian didn't think of something quick.

He didn't care If Brian drove as long as he didn't kill themselves by wrecking the car, his gaze when to Brian's arm and to his surprise the ex-cop didn't winced, adrenaline took his body and he was glad for that moment, the pain was no longer taking control over him…

Brian

Brian was weaving in and out of traffic but shaking a helicopter was damn near impossible. He geared down to accelerate and overtake two cars that were sitting in the right lane when he spotted a red light ahead. "Damn." He muttered.

His eyes shot to the right and left in search for another route when he spotted a small side alley on the left, right across the opposite lane.

"Buckle up." he yelled at Dom just before he yanked the wheel to the left and shot through the oncoming traffic, slowed down and the accelerated just in time to avoid a collision with a truck and a small Chevy.

A moment later Dom's car raced into the small alley at way too much speed. The traffic cans on the right side went flying in the air as the right fender connected with them. At least the lines filled with clothing over head made it harder for the helicopter to see them.

Brian slowed down a little to remain in control in the narrow passageway but when he pulled the e-brake to slide around the next corner to the right his left arm with the cast slipped. The wheel turned just a little too much and Brian rammed a parked car. He could have stopped but decided to keep going as long as the American classic would allow him to.

Dom

He buckled up as he sat there with anxiety filling his body, lots of twists and turns and then the unthinkable happen… the buster rammed a parked car. He just shook his head but didn't say a word when Brian took control of the car and kept going, the helicopter could be heard not so near anymore that didn't mean O'Conner was going to stop the car.

He was in a hurry to get to Berlin to see Han and Giselle, but most importantly he needed to find out how his niece and sister were doing, Mia might hide things from Brian but not to her big brother and Brian didn't buy it either but Dom knew she couldn't worry Brian more but for now he let that thought slipped and focused on Brian who was still speeding through the streets.

Brian

A few more turns and Brian spotted a large warehouse construction that wasn't finished yet. The only thing that was standing were columns, some side walls but not all and the floors. The only thing between his bumper and the safety and shelter of the building was a red and white plastic tape. Without asking Dom for his opinion he turned hard to the left and shot through the tape just between two columns.

Then he hit the breaks and the car came to a sudden stop, with his heart beating in his neck and breathing as if he had just run a marathon he listened to the sounds of the helicopter. Could they possibly loose it that way?

"We need a way out…on the other side." Slowly he rolled forward trying not to get caught in some blocked corner of the construction site.

On the other side there was a gap in between two walls but outside was a five feet drop.

Brian rolled his head to the side, adrenalin still pumping through his veins. "May I?" If he wanted to jump with Dom's classic he'd better ask the guys permission. Otherwise he might break both of Brian's hands to make sure he'll never touch the wheel of his car again.

Behind the search light was now lighting the alleyway.

Dom

Hesitation could be heard in Brian's voice, but he was glad the guy asked for permission, he knew better than to do something "stupid" without asking specially if it was his "toy".

"Go for it…" were the only words that came out of his mouth. The sound of the helicopters sent goose bumps to his whole body; he just wished to be in Berlin with Han and Giselle. The adrenaline was not only felt by Brian but him too.

Brian

Brian just nodded, turned off the headlights to remain undetected and then hit the gas. Both hands were firmly gripping the wheel while he braced himself for the impact that would follow the jump.

A moment later the tires of the muscle car lost grip and went flying through the air. The drop was short but hard and shook them both up.

For a moment both of his hands took a hard impact to keep his forehead from connecting with the steering wheel. Sharp pain shot through his broken arm and made him wince but he kept both hands on the wheel to avoid a collision with one of the cars on the road he hit.

Quickly he turned the wheel to slide into traffic; hopefully still undetected by the helicopter that was circling above the alley they had been in earlier.

"Did he see us?" He nervously yelled at Dom.

Dom

Dom winced as the impact of the car finally touched the ground. It took him a moment to focus his gaze and when he did they were blended with the traffic. Dom took a look to see the helicopter still making circles on that alley.

"No, he didn't. We're good now," he sighed leaning his bald head on the seat and controlled his pounding heart, the only sound besides their faster heart beats was the helicopter still at the area they just got out, and the sound was getting further from the two men.

Brian

Another thirty minutes and they were out of the city and rolling along a country road. Only when they were far away from everybody and everything and the area around them was pitch black did Brian stop and relax visibly. With a sigh he leaned back in the seat and let his arms drop from the steering wheel.

After a few deep breaths he came out and stretched his back before he took a good look at Dom's pride and joy that had a few awful long scratches on one side and a dented fender on the other.

His eyes met Dom's darker ones and he instinctively pulled in his head. "Sorry about your car, bro."

Then he looked around. For miles there was nothing but stones, sand and a few plants under the moonlit sky. "We need a phone."

Dom

"Don't worry about the car, Han will be happy to help us heal this babe," he patted the seat he was on. There was no more sound or lights and that was so damn relaxing to both of them. For a moment he felt bad for Brian, all the guy could think about was about a 'phone'. He understood how worried he was for his sister, heck he was too worried about Mia and Sienna.

"Why don't we switch places and I drive to Han's. Once we get there you can talk with Mia all you want," he didn't move waiting for his answer.

Brian

Brian was relieved to hear that Dom wasn't going to kick his butt for damaging his brother in laws ride. He smiled a little and finally completely relaxed. "And...how did I shake that helicopter? Sweet driving, eh?"

With a smile he crawled into the passenger seat, shooting one last look at the dents.

On the road they finally had a moment to relax and talk. Brian shifted in his seat a little lower and nursed his injured arm, carefully wiggling it in the cast that was starting to become uncomfortable.

"Where have you been hiding while we stayed in the area, which, I must admit, was a stupid idea. Mia wanted to be near Rosa, she didn't completely want to leave her and we need a hospital nearby."

He shifted his gaze to Dom behind the wheel. "How have you been doing?"

Dom

"Show off," shaking his head as he heard Brian rambling about what had happen thirty minutes ago. Finally, Brian switch places and Dom was now behind the wheel.

"I decided to hide not too far from Rosa's home and I knew that'd be a place Mia would be at specially now that she's a mom and knowing Rosa and Nico are family, I couldn't stay with you guys, and just to think that I might be placing Nico and Sienna in danger because I was there?"

To hear Brian talk about how Mia wanted to be near Rosa, his sister always taking lots of good care of the people around her, it didn't matter if it was family or not. "How have I been? Glad that our family is getting together but we're still running,"

'Will we ever be normal again?' he thought to himself. A question that knew his sister had also thought about.

Brian

Brian raised his brow before he smiled a little. "And here I was thinking you're Uganda or something, maybe Europe. I should have known you'd stay close to Mia." Dom had always been the big protective brother watching over his sister and even now that the ex cop was there for here he'd be her shadow.

"I guess I haven't taken the best care of her..." Frowning he thought about the accident and the little bit he remembered. Some details were coming back to him.

Headlights, squeaking tires, the sound of glass and metal grinding and shattering...and then when he was trapped with a fire nearby. "I honestly have no idea how the accident happened. I can't imagine I caused it but who knows. I wish I knew. It's the reason why they're after us. I left something in the car."

Brian had no idea that it was actually Mia's wallet she had given to him to protect her real identity at the hospital that had the cops make the connection to him.

"Why was I so stupid?"

Dom

"Of course I'd stay close to Mia, she's my little sister…" he heard Brian blaming himself for not taking care of his sister. Brian's frown caught his attention for a little as he kept driving.

"You can't change what happen… we knew something like this could happen again," meaning one day they could start to run away from the law, for a moment a feeling of guilt came over Dom, his sister shouldn't be involved in this life like Vince said once neither Letty who was now six feet underground.

Even Elena… a cop that broke the rules she stood for… for him? He couldn't be away from his sister so he stayed in the favelas too with the Brazilian cop but why did it feel so wrong? He kept speeding wanting nothing more than to get to Han's place.

Brian

"Yeah." Brian admitted in a low voice. It didn't make him feel any better about what happened. he could only try to make the best of it now. At least with Dom he had an expert by his side when it came to running.

"Once we reach the border we have to call her though."With all the money they had both Brian and Dom had no trouble crossing the border at some small post.

As soon as they had reached Paraguay and the city of Iguacu Falls they found a cheap place to sleep and called Mia.

Only three days later both men were on a plane to Berlin where they were supposed to meet up with Han.


	12. Chapter 11

A Fresh Start  
Chapter 11

Dom

They were finally on the plane, only a matter of hours before they arrived to where Han and Giselle were. He didn't know when he fell asleep only to be awake by the plane landing on Berlin moments later and to his surprise hours instead of seconds passed.

Both men stepped out of the plane with a duffel bag over Dom's shoulders; he stopped and looked around for Han. "Welcome gentlemen," a female voice greeted them. A few steps from them stood Giselle with a grin on her face.

Brian

The flight went by in no time but Brian couldn't stop thinking about the distance that was now between him and his girls. Sure, Mia had assured him over the phone that Sienna was doing better and in good hands but he still worried so much.

Another thought lingering in the back of his mind was airport security. From his own experience he knew that their fake passports, which Dom had gotten them before their departure through some dark, sleazy source that Brian didn't even want to, know about, weren't enough.

International airports were using cameras and facial recognition software that could easily give away their identity. He drew the baseball hat lower in his face and slipped some sunglasses on to fly under the radar as much as he could.

Just as they stepped off the plane he nudged Dom. "So how are we getting through the checks?" To his surprise a familiar face was already waiting for them at the terminal before they even got to the checks.

"Nice to see you, girl." He grinned at her.

Giselle smiled back. "What happened to you? And where is Mia?"

"Still in Brazil. Long story. I'll tell you another time." Brian offered and then followed the Mexican girl to an exit on the right that lead though some back way instead of the baggage claim.

Giselle

She led them to her car parked in a more secluded area of the airport and once Dom and Brian were inside the car she turn the ignition and drove to the house she had with Han. Dom sat next to her on the co-pilot seat and Brian was in the back. Giselle took a quick glance at Brian.

He looked like he was in a lot of pain. "As soon as we get home I'll get you some pain killers, "she said as she drifted through the streets of Berlin. Brian looked horrible and without Mia… what the hell happen that prevent her to travel with the boys? Last time she was pregnant and not showing a baby bump yet then… Did something happen to the baby? She wanted to ask lots of questions but decided to wait until they got home.

"How's Han doing? Why didn't he come with you?" Dom started a conversation.

With a hand on the steering wheel she massage her neck quickly clearly stress, Han had some new info to share with them, the first day she arrived to Berlin she thought she was going to have an easy life and enjoy the money they all had by pulling off that heist back in Rio but she was wrong, the only thing she knew was Han telling her about this new team around town doing what once Dom and his crew did before she united with them and when Brian was still a cop.

This raised red flags to her but decided not to share any detail, just when Dom thought she was going to answer him she stopped the car, it wasn't when Dom tore his gaze from her when he realized they arrived to their destination.

Brian

The sexy brunette brought them out of the air port much easier than Brian had anticipated. After being on the plane for 8 hours and the car chase and awful days before he felt so tired and worn out that he wasn't sure he could have lasted through a long intense interview.

"You just saved the day, Giselle." he admitted when he slumped down in the back of an old Mercedes Benz and rested his sore bones on the old, black leather.

He noted that she didn't respond to Dom's question about Han but let it go for now. Instead he studied the strange grey scenery flying by outside.

Brian had never been to Europe and it surely looked a little different than the states. Houses were built in different styles, the words on billboards just as strange as in Brazil and people dressed a little duller. The cars on the contrary he could warm up to. Just then a Porsche passed them and had Brian stretch his neck.

Half an hour later they arrived in the middle of high rise apartment buildings with rows or cheap little cars parked in front of them. "This is where you live?" He asked her while he followed the tall brunette to the front door and elevator.

Dom next to him with his bald head and sunglasses looked as out of place as could be here.

Giselle

It only took a few minutes for the elevator to stop and the doors open. She eyed Dom waiting to be interrogated by the two men but neither of them kept asking questions. She just hoped Han was already home. A few more steps and she stopped outside a wooden door, she placed the key and turned the knob stepping in. The lights weren't off meaning they weren't alone in the house. "Come on in gentlemen, make yourselves at home" She walked to the fridge and took out a Corona and handed it to Dom and also grabbed some painkillers that were above the black refrigerator. "Take these," she told Brian and filled a glass with fresh water. She wanted to find out what had happened to Mia but decided to wait.

"Han!" she called out for the Japanese man. They had some questions that needed answers.

Brian  
The loft like apartment was very stylish, yet completely unfamiliar. Brian let his gaze wander around while he stepped into the living area and whistled. "Nice. This suits you." Giselle and Han were both quite hip.

Giselle handed him a package with pills and told him to take them. Surely his elbow was still hurting quite badly after being shattered less than a week ago but he next to Dom Brian always felt like proving himself. Heck, the guy had been shot in the shoulder and barely flinched. He had to have some lack of nerve transmission.

Reading the package he tried to pronounce the strange word. "Schmerztabletten". Then he tossed it back to Giselle. "Thanks, but I'm okay." Of course that was a blunt lie. With Mia and Sienna so far away and still in a hospital and his arm in a cast that became more and more hindering and irritating and cops on their tails he was anything but okay.

Sighing he sat down on the sofa and asked. "What brought you here? To Germany?"

With a smirk and a side glance at the big bald guy he added. "I know what would bring me here." He drew a 911 into the air. "That Porsche on the autobahn, baby!"

Giselle

"Thanks" she smiled taking a quick look around her home. She looked at Brian when he denied taking one of the pills. "Are you sure?" she took the little box and let him know where it was just in case.

"We had to get as far away from Brazil, we couldn't take any chances and hide in Argentina or any other place around Brazil or above it. I'm pretty sure we did a good choice, the idea was to go to Tokyo but at the last minute we change our minds,"

She shook her head listening to what Brian was saying. Dom didn't say a word he just kept drinking the beer. "I'll show you your rooms in a little bit. Oh and Brian, behind you there's a phone if you need it…"

Brian

Brian looked around to see the phone. For a moment his pale blue eyes rested on it because he had the strong urge to call Mia right away just like almost every day but he didn't know the country code and felt that they should get settled in first.

Giselle had to be wondering where Mia was since she was offering him to use the phone so Brian took it upon him to explain. "Mia is still in Rio because our baby girl was born early. She still needs to be in the hospital. Unfortunately the cops were closing in on me because I had a car crash." He shook his head because he still couldn't believe that he should have crashed a car. That just seemed to outlandish.

Giselle

Seeing and hearing Brian share the story… she couldn't imagine being in Mia's shoes at the moment and to stay back in Rio with a part of Mia's life that part being Brian here in Germany, both of her friends so far away from each other. "Damn… if Han and I can help you in anyway please let us know," she wished she had the words to cheer him up but even as she heard Brian's story… she couldn't come up with a single word, a 'I'm sorry' was something she didn't feel like saying not because those two words were the most used words in situations like this but also those two words were used for another million things like when death of a family member was announced but knowing her friends and how strong they were she had no doubt that baby girl would make it out of that place and be with all of them hopefully sooner than later.

"…and I insist, take the painkiller so it'll help you get some rest, you need it badly" seeing the dark circles, and Brian's face was just so tired so not Brian. "It's late now, tomorrow we'll get in touch with Mia and see how she and my niece is doing," it wasn't unusual for her or Han or any other member of the "gang" to refer to the new baby as niece after all they were a family.

"Han should be here anytime but I'm sure he'll suggest the same thing I did, and that goes to you too Dom, there's lots of rooms available in the house take whatever room you want to," knowing Brian wasn't going to reach for that box of painkillers, she took it herself and placed on the counter in front of Brian.

Dom nodded at Giselle words. "You should take it," Dom spoke to Brian getting a pretty good idea of why Brian denied the pill in the first place.

Brian

Giselle was different than a lot of American girls Brian knew. She had a non nonesense attitude like Letty and was just as pretty and self assured as Mia but there was something else. She was a good listener and Brian drew some sort of confidence from her presence. Maybe it was due to the fact that she had once worked for a drug lord but turned against him and helped him and Dom.

Brian gave her a weak smile and when she placed the pills in front of him again he was almost willing to take them because if he was honest to himself his completely shattered bones and torn muscles were more painful than most other injuries he ever sustained and he could be glad there was a plaster cast around the whole mess to protect it and make it heal. The chase and worries and trip to Europe had taken his last bit of energy.

Dom finally gave him a nudge so he reached for them, popped two in his mouth and washed it down with some water from the sink. He then walked over to the phone and muttered. "I'll call her and then get some sleep."

Of course everybody in the room fell quiet when he dialed the hospitals number. A moment later Mia's familiar voice hit his ears and washed over him like a wave of relief. "Hi baby. How are you doing?" He asked her. "I miss you. We're with Han and Giselle now. How is my baby girl today?"

When the call ended a huge load dropped off his shoulders. With the first genuine smile in days he explained. "Sienna is doing better and off all support. They'll keep her there to have an eye on her but she's out of danger." Brian lips were quivering when he told her brother and 'cousin' and he had to pull himself together to keep himself for spilling some happy tears.

With that he got up and walked off to one of the bedrooms in the back. From there he hollered in a much better mood. "I hope Germans have some decent clothing store because I definitely need some!" For days he had been wearing Vince's old clothes and was more than ready to get some own.

The next few days they spent sleeping, recovering, buying clothes and checking out the local racing scene. Berlin was something else: A city where history came to life on every corner but at the same time was vibrant with all sorts of new influences. One of them was German cars, some of the best in the world.

Brian couldn't stop turning his head in the street every few minutes and liked the place more and more. The daily calls with Mia confirmed that he didn't need to worry anymore and by the time three weeks had passed he was ready to get rid of the cast that had become no more than a nuisance. Against the German doctors advice he had it cut off and was happily bending his half deteriorated arm and admiring the 6 inch scar on the back of his arm, underneath which he could feel some screws. "Any metal detector is going to find me!" He commented as they left the hospital and had their heads turned by a Porsche Cayman S racing by. Brian caught a glimpse of the driver: A woman with dark hair and sunglasses on, who had a remarkable resemblance with...it couldn't be.

"What the...did you see that?" He asked Dom in disbelieve.

***  
Mia

Having Brian calling her every single day for the past three weeks and seeing how Sienna improved lifted a huge weight off of her, the little girl was stronger and healthier as days passed by, Sienna wasn't that small little baby that she at one point was afraid to hold her afraid the baby would shatter like a fragile glass, her little girl had more weight in her body and a bit more hair, her little blue eyes shining so bright, she was now one month old, she took the baby in her arms and placed little quick kisses on her little cheeks making her laugh as her little hands rested on Mia's cheeks. "Just a few more days and we'll be out of here, are you ready to go home?" she questioned her daughter and she cooed back as if understanding what her mother was asking too, clueless of the danger around her, closer than before…

Dom

Brian seemed a lot better the last couples of days, hell he also felt less stress now that Sienna was better and to see his brother in law smile, it was contagious not to feel same way as Brian. He looked at Brian arm after removing the cast; little by little Brian started to regain movement in his arm.

He took his time to see the car that caught not only his attention and everything around him went silent as his eyes tried to figure out the woman behind the wheel that resemble Let.. No, his brain was playing tricks on him. Letty was dead… there was no way in hell the woman inside that car was her. The woman skin color, the hair and the scent that hit his nose as the car race by them; it smelled like fresh green apple. There was no way it was her… the stranger behind the wheel was almost like a replica of her.

"No, it can't be…." He whispered to himself as he followed with his gaze the car that was starting to get away from them.

Brian

Dom's reaction and the look on his face told Brian that his best friend thought the same as him. That woman behind the wheel looked an awful lot like Letty but of course Dom was right: It couldn't be her. Brian had seen the site of the accident and she had been identified by what was left of her burnt corpse.

Brian blinked for a second and then shrugged. Whoever the woman was drove a pretty nice car and had a heavy foot."Wonder where she's going this fast." He remarked, which was more like 'let's follow her and see if she's going to some sort of hot spot'

"You wanna?" He only asked Dom while absentmindedly rubbing his finally free arm, which didn't bend much further than when the cast was still on.

The fact that it wasn't as useful as before and would cause some hindrance behind the wheel did anger him a little.

As usual he climbed into the passenger seat of Giselle's car that Dom was driving today.

"C'mon." he urged the bald guy to get a move on.

Dom

He entered the car and placed the key in the ignition pushing the gas pedal as deep as he could causing the tires to drift a little and picked up the dirt, in a matter of seconds Dom was driving faster like the cops were following him and the only way he knew how to get away was by speeding just like the good old days.

"I mean what are the chances? To find a person that looks so freaking much like her? Could she be…?" he trailed off as he kept speeding noticing the woman was a good damn driver and noticed she was being followed, it was evident on how the car they were following increase the speed.

No, no, she was dead. For god's sake Mia attended her funeral and the scene where the crash happened… "but Mia… she was at Letty's funeral…" he started to ramble now never losing sight of the car a few feet from him.

***  
Brian

While Dom was following the Porsche in good old car chase fashion Brian felt the need to set his head straight. "It's not her, Dom." His voice was calm, yet full of regrets because he knew that he was partly responsible for Letty's death because it was him who set up the contact with the FBI. On top of that he knew how much Dom was still hurting.

They turned some more corners before they reached a sign saying "A 9 Muenchen". While Brian was still wondering what that meant the A was soon explained but a large three lane highway they were rolling onto, where people seemed to go as fast as they pleased. "The Autobahn." He whispered as if it was the promised land.

As soon as they were on the highway the woman's car took off making it harder for Dom to keep up but Giselles car wasn't just your standard family van, it was a small Honda Civic tuned to the max.

Dom

At the last minute he turned around letting the car get away, he didn't say a word, but he could've sworn it was her… after all this time he still had that little hope of Letty not being dead, but it was stupid to even think that because both men knew the truth and that was Letty's body was buried in a cemetery back in California.

The look in his eyes… that look of disappointment when he heard Brian's words. Reality finally and unfortunately sinking in… "Your right it's not her…" his voice filled with so much emotion that even surprised him. He changed routes and went back to Giselle and Han's place hoping it wasn't the last time he saw that woman that reminded him so much of her.

Brian

Brian was surprised that Dom actually stopped his chase and admitted that it wasn't Letty who was driving the car. The disappointment was evident when Dom's face turned to stone. It almost broke Brian's heart. He wasn't with Mia but she was alive. "I'm sorry." He mumbled while he focused on the scenery flying by. For a moment he mulled over why he felt so bad.

"You were right to pummel me back in LA. I should have never allowed her to become an informant." If the shoe was on the other foot Brian might not even talk to him anymore.

The car took the next exit and then went onto the highway in the opposite direction to go back to Berlin when a group of eight high end vehicles, mostly Mercedes and Audi TTs caught Brian's attention.

They drove in a two side by side formation. Suddenly the first two cars took off obviously racing each other.

Brian could only see their tail lights but immediately placed both hands on the dashboard and scooted forward in his seat to get a better look. "Did you see that?"

Only a minute later the next two cars sped away.

Dom

The sound of screeching tires on the pavement was music to his ears. It was like being back in Los Angeles and for a moment saw himself as a young man with his sister by his side every time he decided to hit town to see or compete in a race. The parties held at his house every single night, the woman, the friendship, the beer…

He chuckle that unique rough laugh when he saw the excitement in Brian's voice and face as he too follow with his gaze to see which car won the race. "Are you thinking the same thing I am?" he asked looking at his brother in law.

Brian

The change of mood was welcome because Dom's low rumbling laughter was a little contagious and Brian was excited as it was.

"I'm thinking...I'm starting to love Germany." He smiled and smacked the dashboard.

The last two cars were almost ready to hit it off when Brian cheer. "I say mix em up a little."

He knew there was no way Dom could be behind the wheel of a modified car and witness and race right in front of his dark eyes but not join it.

His own blue ones sparkled when he urged Dom to join. "Let's see if they only have dough or skills as well!"

Obviously his recent crash hadn't changed his mind set about fast cars at all. Just for one brief moment he checked whether he was buckled up properly.

Dom

He shook his head. "After all you went through you still want ME to race?" He slowly approached the cars that were waiting for a signal to start speeding through the street forgetting for a moment he was the one that started to suggest of joining the illegal street race.

If Mia heard about this she was going to kill Brian, after all he was the one "pressuring" her big brother to join the German races… bottom line: Dom was responsible for what he was about to do, but he could always blame it on Brian. But if there was one thing he was sure about was that he was as excited as Brian.

"…and this is how you do it" the signal was shown...oh boy! This was going to be lots of fun… it took seconds for the other two drivers to notice Dom ahead of them. "Home sweet home…" he started to say. Same words he mentioned once in Brazil and again that laugh came out of his throat.

Brian

Of course Dom had a point when he stressed that Brian was crazy to race after the crash but he just shrugged. "I still have another arm that needs a few screws." If there was anything he had an advantage over Dom with it was that he didn't get scared. Brian was a thrill seeker and would always be one. That's why he initially joined the force.

He couldn't help but cheer when Dom geared down and floored it putting them a slight bit ahead of the two German cars. It was so true that Dom was at home behind the wheel.

Brian glanced over at the driver of the BMW to his right while the scenery flew past them leaving a blur of green behind them. The man in his thirties glanced over at them before he fell behind. His face clearly revealed his surprise.

It wasn't clear to Brian where the race would end until he spotted a red sheet hanging from a bridge over the highway.

"200 meters." He judged the distance by the spaces between the lines.

A few seconds later they drove under the bridge slightly ahead of the two others.

In the rear view mirror he could see one of the other drivers point to one of the upcoming rest areas.

"Looks like they want to talk to you...maybe they don't appreciate that you pissed on their turf, bro." Brian laughed while adrenaline was rushing through his veins.

Dom

"I'll be more than happy to talk to them," opening the door and stepping out making a sign to Brian to join him. He started to walk slowly to the man in his 30's trying to read or predict what was going to happen.

He turned to Brian who was still full of adrenaline. "If you mention this to Mia I'll make sure she kills you before she gets mad at me," He was never the type of person to fight over silly things with his sister but when Mia was pissed he was the one trying to avoid a confrontation with her and by the look of Brian when he mention Mia he was sure the ex-cop got a taste of a very pissed off Mia at once.

Brian

While they were approaching the gathering group of Germans who seemed partly angry, partly surprised Brian told Dom. "Don't worry. I don't fancy getting my head ripped off by her. I'm actually surprised she didn't get mad because of the accident. Then again I have no idea who caused it. As far as I know I wasn't speeding."

The men eyed the two newcomers suspiciously, then one asked.

"Was glaubt ihr zwei Spinner, was ihr macht?"

Both men exchanged a confused glance because they didn't understand what the German was saying so Brian lifted his hands as if to calm him down and said. "Sorry, ich spreche nicht Deutsch. American." Giselle had taught him the easy line.

The frown on the other guys face got deeper as he turned to his buddies. "Typisch Amerikaner."

Then he stepped closer to them showing off his nice Armani suit and Rolex while scanning their simple clothes.

"This was a private 'session'."

Another one also came over and said in good English but with a heavy accent. "I like your driving. Impressive."

***  
Dom

If it was hard for him to understand Portuguese then it was a lot of a hell harder to understand German or even speak it. He turned to Brian and he mentioned a few words the only word he recognized 'American'. "I'll be more than willing to show you and your crew how to drive," eyeing the different cars parked around them.

He didn't remember racing or meeting someone wearing a suit or a Rolex watch so damn elegant. "Private session? Doesn't look too private to me," racing in the middle of the street at a time where traffic would be accumulating, fancy cars, it was a little bit of California, only difference races were at night not at this time of the day with "less danger". Only time he had a problem with the cops was when Brian entered his world and saved his ass.

Brian

The man shrugged and laughed at his buddies. Then he gave Dom a pearly white smile and said. "This is Germany. No speed limit. As long as you don't break any laws...no problems with the police."

Brian cast a glance at Dom and scratched his head. "So you're saying that you are doing these short distance races perfectly legally on a public highway." His eyes started sparkling as if he had just met Santa Claus. All the possibilities in this. Immediately he suggested.

"So you guys are racing for money, too? Dollars, Euros?"

Another few glances were exchanged until the man whispered. "Sometimes. Why ...you have too much money?"

"Sure." Brian stated as the guys turned his whole attention on him.

The Germans exchanged a few words and then turned to face the two Americans again. He addressed the ex-cop. "Do you drive as well as him?" His finger was directed at Dom's bald head while he was still speaking to Brian, who got a little nervous but played it cool.

"Not today, bro."

"If you drive I put 1000 on the dashboard." He motioned for the hood but his hand was still empty.

Brian wrinkled his brow and shot Dom a look at the man's strange antiques.

"Well, as I said, not today. I'm a little out of shape." The words were so atypical for the blonde that he surprised himself but he had his reasons. With a baby in the background and one almost useless arm he didn't want to risk another crash.

***  
Dom

Dom patted Brian's back. "Right now is a perfect time," he started to say to a surprised Brian. After all that little driving he did while they got out of Rio proved that he was more than ready to jump into the racing world.

Even Dom himself was surprised as his own words, I mean the man who was his best friend and also family just got the cast from his arm removed. But it felt strange to deny an offer like that. Both men were made for this: racing.

At some point he understood Brian's reasons: the ex cop's arm, not wanting to risk his life afraid to crash but most importantly not wanting to leave Sienna fatherless. But something inside Dom scream at him to just let Brian go for it. He trusted him; there was no doubt about that but… Did Brian trust himself?

***  
Brian

Brian turned to Dom and cast him a very quick surprised glance. He had expected a different reaction, a more responsible one but since when was Dom responsible? He was a criminal who lived off robbing others, breaking traffic laws and living his life by nobody else's rules but his own.

Knowing Dom had his back he smiled and reached out his hand to take the offer but instantly drew it back. "Wait, ..."

The men were a bit confused by him not making up his mind so they urged him to make a decision. "C'mon, I don't want to wait until the Autobahnpolizei shows up." one stated.

"Don't push me." Brian just commented and then took Dom aside. "Dom, I don't have a good feeling about this. I know you are going to say there's nothing to worry about but I just can't. It's too soon."

His own behavior was so strange to Brian that it made him wonder what was happening to the guy who wasn't scared of anything or anybody, the adrenalin junkie.

The Germans shrugged.

If you don't want our money we'll give it to somebody else." they waved a wad of cash in front of the two Americans so Brian reached for it and sighed. "Okay, shut up and get behind the wheel."

he then walk around the car with firm steps and took a deep breath while moving his arm back and forth and bending it as far as he could.

"Damn."

Dom

He chuckled the moment Brian drew his hand back knowing him so well and in a matter of seconds he changed his mind letting the guys in front to get in their cars. "Good," Dom started to say as he hurried to the passenger seat, open the door and quickly closing it as he jumped in, he wasted no time and placed his seat belt.

Brian started bending his arm preparing before the race but once the adrenaline took a hold of his body the pain in his arm was going to be the least of his problems. "Just don't kill us and most importantly don't destroy Giselle's car," trying harder not to laugh.

He took a quick breathe as he looked at the cars around him relaxing while Brian still kept bending his arm. "You'll do fine O'conner," those were his last words before the silence was filled with the roaring of the engines.

***  
Brian

Today his excitement to be behind the wheel of a fast car and competing against a few people he thought he could beat was mixed with anxiety. The accident had left an invisible scar and their new baby added to it.

Brian's fingers gripped the wheel tightly when he put his foot on the pedal and pressed down on the clutch. The sounds of the other engines filled his ears. The thumping in his chest got harder and harder just like it always did while adrenaline sharpened his sense. Today there was more though. His heart beat almost unbearably hard against a chest that felt so tight it hurt. The ex-cops fingers started to slip on the wheel because they were getting sweaty.

One question shot through his mind: What if I crash again? Will it just be my arm or my neck next time? Will I leave my beloved girls as widow and half orphan behind?

He knew Dom was watching him closely as he stared ahead at the guy stepping between the cars to start the race from the parking lot.

All of a sudden Brian took his foot off the clutch and turned off the engine before he stepped out of the car with his hands raised.

The other drivers were giving him bewildered looks and the onlookers shouted. "Was ist los?"

Brian simply stepped away from the car and said in a low but firm voice. "I can't do it. I'm sorry."

Then he turned around to walk away. Only now could he feel how shaky his hands and knees were. His face got hot. What if he had driven and crashed?

Dom

He would've never expected that reaction from Brian. He seemed so ready to just race, wasn't that something he was passionate about? And then all of a sudden he got scared and stopped the engine of the car.

Dom didn't move from his seat and just looked at Brian. Lots of emotions started to show on his face from nervousness to mad maybe? His face began to turn red…. Was it anger or embarrassment? Perhaps, a combination of both? The other drivers next to Giselle's car stopped and got out of their cars, it smelled like trouble the moment the Germans stepped out of their fancy cars.

Another part of him saw the fear and the memories back into the shocked ex-cop face. Hell, he still remembered that first and last race or what he thought would be his last race with Brian when the Charger made flips in the air as the race was almost over only seconds from been hit from that train.

It took him a few weeks to get behind the wheel but then again he didn't have what Brian had. He had a sister at the time but he never got the chance to become a dad, he didn't have a wife to come home to or a child to kiss on the forehead every night he came from work.

He wanted to drag Brian back to the car but he control the impulse and remove his seat belt and jump off the car taking a few more steps waiting for Brian to calm down. "O'Conner…" he started to call him but turned quickly as the Germans started to shout in their native language, they were pissed no doubt about that. So, he simply stood there as a barrier if they decided to hurt his brother in law.

Brian

"Was ist lost? Fahren wir jetzt ein Rennen oder was?" One demanded to know whether the race was still on.

Brian was embarrassed to say the least, yet he had to stand his ground, so when Dom followed him and called his name he only turned around and shot him a warning look. "I don't need a speech, bro."

The Germans were either confused or getting angry. Some were waving to call the race off, some others started following Dom and gestured wildly.

"What's wrong? C'mon, let's race."

Assuming Brian wasn't satisfied with the money, they offered more btu Brian declined.

"It's not about the damn money."

"What then?" The guy demanded to know and shoved Dom to the side, who didn't move much.

"That's none of your damn business." Brian snapped at him much more angry that he should have been.

Of course the German came back with the same attitude. "You should have thought of that before." He pushed Brian hard against his chest, who grabbed him by the shirt and was already balling his fist when a third, older man stopped them. "Settle that on the road."

With his fist still raised Brian stared at both guys, then dropped it and nodded. "All right."

A fistfight might not be much healthier than a race...at least not if he did it right.

Dom

"Oh shit," Dominic was getting ready to jump out the car and save Brian's ass. But another German stopped the stranger who pushed Brian, it didn't help Brian was ready to fight too. He sighed when there was no fight and clearly he wasn't going to scold him like a little kid and make a speech at that moment.

Brian returned to the car and slammed the door as he entered the car, getting comfortable, hands resting on the steering wheel. He had to win… part of it because of the money and if he didn't win, problems were going to come at them in the form of fists and he was worried to see Brian, his brother more hurt but even scarier than that was Mia's anger. His mind picture an angry Mia… it wasn't a nice picture/scene playing in his head, plus the car they were in was Giselle's..

"Kick his ass, will ya?" meaning win this race. He eyed the guy Brian was going to be racing in a few seconds. If looks could kill….

The roaring of the engines made the city of Berlin come alive… red light, yellow light… and green light flash before his eyes. "GO!"

Brian

Brian's fingers curled around the steering wheel over and over testing whether his left arm would be fast enough. He was aggravated now because the Germans clearly pissed him off. Brian would never take any stupid talk when it came to racing. But what bothered him more was that his sense and fear had gotten the better of him. Since when was he the one to chicken out of a race. He had to go through with this just to conquer his own fear.

In reply to Dom's words he only nodded with his eyes glued to the road ahead.

A split second later his foot pushed down the gas and let go off the clutch, then pressed it again to shift and again always feeling the perfect moment.

The car shot forward pressing both him and Dom into their seats and coming nose to nose with the expensive silver BMW next to him. Brian didn't waste time by looking over but shifted down when a bend came into view, just to cut to the inside and take the lead.

The other drivers weren't new to the game even though his audacity surprised them a little. With more horsepower under the hood the Porsche behind Brian quickly overtook him and tried to take the lead. When he changed lanes to block him out his left hand slipped slightly on the wheel bringing his car over just a little too far. Bumper to fender produced an ugly metal grinding but Brian quickly corrected his mistake. At least it had saved him the lead when the next overpass came into view, which was also the finish of the race.

Dom  
The race was intense, he had faith in Brian and he never disappoint, when it came for the car to began its course, Brian's face totally changed adrenaline making its way through his body, everything around him was not an obstacle, for Brian it was like peripheral vision, his total focus on the road ahead of them, same thing Dom did when he was getting behind the wheel.

Seconds flew by, heart's pumping, adrenaline rushing until the finish of the race came into view and Brian was the first one to cross and Dom couldn't help but smirk, he couldn't wait to see the face of the Germans.

***  
Brian

Once Brian had gotten over his issues and was in the zone, he managed to gain the lead and win the race even though the other cars were a higher price class.

He looked over a Dom who had a bit of a stressed expression on his face. "Relax, it's all good."

A boyish grin spread on features when he got out of the car with new found self confidence and approached the group of Germans who were partly impressed and partly ticked off.

One nodded. "Gute gefahren, Alter." which Brian assumed was a compliment.

The one he raced against approached him in a less friendly way. "So why are you acting like you can't drive and then you drive like that? All a big bluff, huh?" He frowned at Brian who instantly felt the need to explain but held himself back.

"Let's just say I got over it quickly." He demonstratively cradled his injured arm to give him the hint that it might have something to do with Brian's earlier problems.

The man eyed him suspiciously but then handed over the money.

As soon as he stepped away a second one quickly passed a business card on to Brian. "Call me if you need some extra cash." With that he turned and left.

Brian exchanged a glance with Dom. "Looks like I still got it."

Dom

"Good job, O´Connor" Dom congratulate him as his eyes fell on the money on his hand. They had a ton of money and they´d gladly collect more, racing was in their blood no matter how danger it was. Dom was an expert at that, and Brian followed his footsteps and was getting better at it everything he got behind the wheel.

Brian´s arm seemed a little better too; he eyed the Germans as he started the car and placed on his seatbelt, Brian on the copilot seat, this wouldn't be the last time they saw those guys, they were definitely coming back for more.


	13. Chapter 12

A Fresh Start  
Chapter 12

**Brian**

The next few days Brian and Dom spent getting to know the city, learning a few necessary words of German and simply getting settled.

Brian spent a lot of time on the phone with Mia to make sure she and their daughter were alright.

"I miss you so much. I wish you two could be here." He confessed in a low voice while he was lying on his bed in the room that Han and Giselle had provided for him and Dom.

"I like your brother but cuddling with him is no fun." He joked to lighten the mood.

"By the way, the cast is off, my arm looks like a thin stick now but I can use it a little. I'll need to do physio though. I raced a guy on the autobahn the other day...not that easy with one hand but I won." Brian wasn't sure how exactly Mia would feel about him racing but he wanted to be open and honest with her.

"How is Sienna doing? You two should come here."

Outside the room he could hear some keys being placed on a surface and some voices. The others were home.

**Mia**

She smiled as she heard his words. "I miss you too," and she couldn't help but laugh when he said about cuddling with Dom was no fun.

"That is wonderful! Try to move your arm a little more each day," she couldn't be more happier for him and Dom until he mention the race. "You what? Well.." she paused for a moment. "Thank you for being honest but still be careful, I am gonna kill Dom when I get there,"

"Sienna is doing so much better, bigger and healthier and now that you mention about going to Germany, Rosa´s cousin will be here in a few hours I´ll ask him and see what he says. I´m so looking forward to see you, we miss you so much,"

***  
**Brian**

It was a great relief to hear that their daughter was doing better because it gave him the hope to reunite soon. With a smile on his lips he replied. "Ask him whether or when she's okay to travel." He knew pushing the subject didn't make much sense but he wanted to be with them so badly. "I feel like I'm missing out on so much." He added lowering his voice. "I need you here."

The others were now calling his name. "Brian, c'mon, we have to get going."

"Looks like they have plans for tonight. I'll let you go. I love you." He placed a smooch on the phone and then hung up.

Standing up he groaned audibly and opened the door. "What the heck do you want?" He looked into three eager faces and asked. "What's the fuzz all about?"

"Race night in Berlin, baby." The long legged brunette in front of him replied and put a shit eating grin on his face. "Unless you're too busy parking your lazy ass in bed."

**Mia**

"Don´t worry as soon as he gets home I´ll start shooting the questions," she giggled hearing the others calling out to him.

"Have fun, be careful and I love you," she hang up the phone, her sweet laugh was the last thing he heard of her.

"We´re going to see daddy!" attacking Sienna with kisses making the little girl laugh, a month and half had pass since they had to say goodbye to each other and now Sienna was so much bigger almost two months old and she was starting to show how beautiful she was, lighter tan skin, and brown straight and silky hair just like Mia´s and Brian´s eyes, big and darn blue.

"Looks like Sal will be here a little early," Rosa told Mia as she exited her room with a happy Sienna in her arms.

"Awesome, thanks for letting me know," she said to Rosa as she entered the kitchen with a curious Sienna looking at what aunt Rosa and her mom started to cook.

**Gisele**

The smile that Brian had on his face was contagious. "Let´s go, boys!" next to her was Han with an arm around her waist. "By the way, How´s Mia and Sienna?"

**Brian**

Brian was in a good mood with his hopes up so he smiled back at Giselle and Han and nodded. "They're better. Sienna's growing and much stronger. You guys might meet my little family soon." His voice was filled with pride when he announced the news.

His gaze shifted to Dom. "Our little family." he didn't want to exclude his brother in law, who always had his back.

"Let's go...where exactly are we going?"

"You'll see." Han announced with a smirk. "And you'll love it."

After grabbing a bite at a local Doner Kebab take away which seemed to be very popular with the locals they drove to a part of town Brian hadn't been to before. It was in the former eastern part, where the factories had been. Now it was mostly abandoned but in the middle of the night the old warehouses came to live with brand new Mercedes, Audis, Porsches, and BMWs. In between the expensive German cars were various Asian imports ads well as French cars and even some American muscle.

The style here was very different. People were clothed very stylish and dark. The girls weren't as cladly dressed as in the states.

Brian's eyes started sparkling. "Nice! I like this place."

Brian spotted a familiar face in the crowd. The guy he raced.

**Dom**

He had to agree with Brian on that one (about liking this place), it certainly wasn't like the States but still there were cars involved. It was weird also to see the entire woman dressed up not showing a lot of skin, he remembered the nights in LA even when it was cold the girls dressed the same with less clothes…

He felt in a wonderful mood, to hear about his sister and niece, he also couldn't wait to see them. He made a mental note to call his sister later but now he focused on where he was and the beauty to see so many cars, expensive cars. Dom took a quick look around and followed Brian´s gaze to see who he was looking at, it was that guy. Hopefully, that guy wouldn't start trouble with Brian or any member of his crew.

"I knew you´d like it," Gisele reply to Brian´s happy comment, chuckling as she noticed the excitement before disappearing to a more serious look in his face. "Is something wrong?" she turned to Brian as she frown a little confused trying to understand what was happening.

**Brian**

Brian was too happy to see the local German race scene to let one idiot spoil his fun. He turned his attention on Giselle and then smiled at her. "No, nothing. Just spotted a familiar face."

The German didn't seem happy to see the Americans either. With a friend in tow he approached their small group and straight away went to Brian.

"We don't like fakers, here. Go home."

Of course Brian didn't appreciate being talked down to like that and being the hot head that he was he jumped right on it.

"Shut up, you idiot. I wasn't faking anything." He stared at the man from icy blue eyes that could have shot daggers. If Brian didn't like one thing it was being called names.

"Oh yeah?" The man asked with a heavy accent. "First you want to race, then you get scared." he waved his hands mysteriously in the air. "And when I think you're no good, you race like hell!" He was now getting loud. "You were trying to fool us, American."

Before anybody could react Brian grabbed the German by his jacket and pulled him close enough to punch his lights out if he wanted. In a low growl he then stated. "I'll tell you one more time, I wasn't faking anything. It's your own fault you suck at racing."

**Dom**

After taking the guy by its jacket Brian pushed him and that´s when all hell broke loose, they started to punch one another, neither of them would stop, which meant they were also going to be in big trouble and he wasn't wrong. Another of the German guys that stay with the one Brian race and was now having a fist fight tried to take a swing at Dom that he pretty much dodge away and return the punch. The guy on the floor didn't waste time and stood up from the floor.

He turned to Han and Giselle not paying attention until he felt a sharp pain on the side of his jaw, he shook it off and continued fighting.

**Giselle**

While Dom fought a third guy ran to Dom´s side, it was pretty obvious he wasn't going to help, Giselle kicked the men´s abdomen with such force the German had to bend over from the pain, Han quickly drove his knee straight to the guy´s face knocking him to the ground. A former agent from the Mossad and a former gang member from the Tokyo streets made an interesting team.

**Dom**

He felt bad for the guy he was fighting, his strong arms brought the much smaller male up from the floor and pushed him away from his team, he approached Brian and separated the two. "That´s enough, Brian"

**Brian**

Since the other guy had been waiting to pay Brian back for loosing against him on the streets he was happy to join in the fight. He first delivered a right hook to Brian's cheek, which knocked his head back, then delivered and upper cut that almost sent Brian on his ass.

His jaw seemed to explode when the knuckles connected with him but he swallowed the pain and managed to tackle the other guy and threw him to the ground.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Giselle kick some ass. She'd definitely put some guys to shame.

Dom easily fought off some of the German guy's friends while Brian was struggling to put him in a headlock. He gave him a hard punch in the side but didn't manage to hold him with his left arm that was considerably weaker than it used to be. As soon as the man struggled against his grip the pain in his elbow that wasn't completely healed yet flared up so badly that he had to let him go.

So he retorted to kicking him in the leg and then wrapping his own legs around him to hold him down. Of course his opponent didn't cooperate and randomly threw punches. Some didn't faze Brian but one that landed in his gut hurt and made him ease up on him.

Just then Dom interrupted the show and everybody stopped.

To look around was pretty embarrassing since they were surrounded by people staring at them in disbelieve.

"If you have so issues to resolve, why don't you do it on the streets?" One of the shouted in German and some others agreed.

Brian uneasily got up holding his sore arm and wrinkled his brow. "What did he say? Anything about cops?

***  
**Dom**

"No translation for that," he smirked at the guy's words in German. He approached Han and Giselle, his eyes settle on the guy knocked out on the floor. "It feels good to be standing, I wouldn't want to get hit by you," Giselle smiled at his comment.

He looked at Brian who was having some issues with his arm, stupid decision of the Buster to start some trouble with the Germans. "It´s time to race guys, looks like Brian will have to stay out of this one," He sighed and took a look at the crowd.

"Han, how do you feel about racing? Giselle?"

"I´ll be more than happy to but I´ll wait for Han to win his race. Go ahead, I´ll stay and take care of Brian," A female bodyguard. She found it amusing, how would Brian find it? Annoying? Or funny and amusing just like her.

**Brian**

Being kicked down by a beautiful woman was slightly embarrassing yet somewhat intriguing so the German simply gave Giselle and embarrassed smile.

Even though his elbow was acting up Brian didn't like being bossed around by Dom. The only thing that made him keep his mouth shut was that his brother in law had witness how he got freaked out in the driver seat a few days ago. Yet his face turned a little pink when Dom told him to stay out of this one.

"I'm fine." He claimed. The fact that a part of his body didn't function the way it was supposed to and might keep him from doing what he loved most didn't want to sink in. Brian refused to think that way.

He looked at Brian who was having some issues with his arm, stupid decision of the Buster to start some trouble with the Germans. "It´s time to race guys, looks like Brian will have to stay out of this one," He sighed and took a look at the crowd.

The amused look Giselle was giving him didn't sit too well with him either. "Very nice of you but I don't need a babysitter." Brian huffed and turned his attention on the Germans who were interested in finding out who of the new comers would join tonight's races.

Soon the 'race master' of the night came over and approached the group in a rough way. "Leute, ich sag's euch gleich. Wenn ihr bei uns ein Rennen fahren wollt, dann lass gefälligst den Scheiß." (Guys, I'll tell the same. If you want to race with us, then kindly let that shit)

One of the Germans explained that Dom and his friends was "Amis" so he made it clear. "None of that bullshit, only fair racing!"

It was only a matter of minutes until the first three cars were lined up at the start and had handed over their Euros to the man.

A flag was held up high while the engines were revved and all bystanders were cheering their favorite driver on.

Only Brian followed the scene more grumpy than usual. His eyes briefly met Giselle's as he asked. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

**Giselle**

Dom and Han got into their cars and once the flag came down the cars sped through the streets. She stood there looking a little more until she couldn't see the cars anymore. "Ouch, you´re making me feel bad, Brian" she joked with him when he referred to her as a ´babysitter´. "A hot babysitter that would kick ass if they tried anything stupid," she slowly said pointing to the crown who were focused on the race.

She smiled at Brian´s question. "Before I entered to work with Braga, I was a member of the "Mossad" ("Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations" of Israel), I was well trained, not only good at fighting but I pretty much know how to handle any weapon,"

She looked at her watch and then at the crowd. "Only a few more minutes and the race will be over," the sounds of the cars could be heard in the distance. The Germans were good drivers and that made her a little nervous of who might be first place or second…will it be Dom or Han?

**Dom**

That adrenaline rush came in the moment he entered the car, the speed made him feel so much better, he was first so far until he looked at the person behind him, a German guy, damn they were excellent drivers, he quickly shifted increasing the speed. He had to win, "You better finish the race on second place, Han".

**Brian**

"Yeah, you're hot. I give you that." Brian honestly stated. Anybody who said differently was lying. Giselle was smoking hot, yet Brian had no interest in her because Mia was just as attractive and he loved her with every fiber.

Brian raised his brows when she talked about her former job. "No wonder you kick ass." he smiled. "I'm glad you're on my side."

Dom, Han and the Germans had made it to the turnaround point and were sliding into position to come back to where they started.

Han, who was the most experienced when it came to drifting around objects took the lead but a German as well as Dom caught up with him a second later. Together the tree cars approached the finish line.

Brian could feel his own shoulders tense when he watched the final seconds. It was as if he was driving himself.

"Oh man, I need to race as well." His eyes were sparkling. Who would cross the line first? It was only the blink of an eye away.

**Giselle**

"I´m glad too, I wouldn't be happy if I had to kick you pretty face," she chuckled.

"You're gonna hate me for saying this, but you listened to Dom… I know you want to get out there but why risk getting yourself or your arm? Mia will kill you if something happens to you and all of us to. So, you better behave," the face Brian made was hilarious, like a little kid pouting.

The cars were approaching the finish line. "Oh boy," she couldn't help but feel nervous. The four cars crossed the line and she couldn't help but smile seeing a familiar face getting out of the car. "Nice job, Dom" she patted Dom´s back; she then turned her attention to Han.

"Lighten up, you did great too," leaning a little to capture the Japanese's lips. Seconds later the Germans exited their cars and they looked amazed yet all in deep thought. Where they having a hard time accepting their loss? Were they ready to fight them again?

***  
**Brian**

"You know, I already have a mother." Brian remarked about her mothering him by telling him he should stay out of trouble and let his arm heal. "Standing on the sidelines is just not my thing." At least he had already showed the Germans what he was capable of on the streets.

It felt almost as satisfying to see Dom win as if he won himself. Stepping closer to Dom he slapped him on the shoulder with admiration. "Well done, bro. And that with a strange car." He truly held a lot of admiration for Dom's skills.

Then he congratulated Han but never let the Germans out of sight, who exchanged a few words, then slowly approached the group of Americans.

"Gut gefahren, Mann. Looks like you have skills."

The then lowered their voices and asked. "Are you interested in a bit of extra cash?"

That sounded so familiar and being asked this question at an illegal street race could only mean trouble so Brian shot Dom a warning look.

"No, we're good." He quickly interjected because he could see in Dom's face that he was getting interested."

Behind them a car slowly rolled by. It was the same one that they had spotted at the hospital. It visibly slowed down when I passed by the group and then sped up again.

"Who's that?" Brian asked with interest.

On the other locals turned to see which car he was talking about and then shrugged. "Some woman from South America, I think. She's pretty good."

**Dom**

"A woman?" his mind flashback to that day when Brian let him know he might have spotted Letty. He had to know who this woman was.

When Brian first started to reject the idea of him getting into another heist with the Germans, he spoke up. "Actually, I´m kind of interested in that extra cash," they needn't need the money because they had it but something in his gut told Dom to go ahead and tried.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Giselle turning to Han, trying to figure out each other thoughts without sharing them with the crowd.

First, he had to understand the deal he got himself into and later he had to investigate who that mysterious woman was, it was odd to describe how he felt at that moment. Maybe Letty wasn't dead, but how could he think such things of the love of his life that stayed six feet under by just thinking and watching the car of this unknown female that just passed by him? He hoped Brian understood him. They were still on the run, so why not come back to their hobby: racing.

**Brian**

Brian listened to Dom telling the Germans he was interested in the extra cash which put him on edge at once. Brian and Dom had very different backrounds. Dom had been a criminal for years while Brian worked as a cop to help keep the bad guys off the streets. These roles would never fully vanish.

He grabbed the big guys arm and pulled him aside. "Can we have a word?" He asked with a stern look on his face to let Dom know he was serious.

Once they were out of ear shot he lowered his voice and head to let Dom know. "Bro, we're on the run. Nobody knows we're here in Germany and that's good. Mia is about to come with Sienna. The last thing we need is cops on our ass again." Subconsciously he rubbed his left elbow because it reminded him of running from the cops in Brazil.

"Dom, we need a safe home for a change...no fast money, not that kind of money!"

**Dom**

He was right, Mia and Sienna will be with them sooner. "That´s why you´ll stay with them and if something happens you´ll run the hell out of Germany,"

Brian will never understand why he wanted to do what the Germans asked him. It sounded crazy but the moment he set foot on Germany, he felt like there was some unfinished business plus the mysterious woman, he couldn't get her out of his head.

"I won´t be alone. Han will be with me… the cops won´t be on your ass nor my sister or niece. We will always be on the run Brian but that doesn't mean I have to drag you or your family with me..."

He turned to walk near the Germans as he eyed Han as if waiting for his answer, he nodded and both understood the message. "So, how do we get that extra cash?"

***  
**Brian**

"Dom, wait, don't do this." Brian called after him in frustration but his friend had made up his mind and once that was done there was no changing it.

He balled his fists but let them drop to his turning his head away while Dom ran into trouble face first once again.

One of the German's mocked. "Too bad you friend is such a coward." But then he clapped Dom on the shoulder.

"So I have a proposition for you. We need a good driver that can outdrive any other car and make sure the person on board will not be bothered by anybody. The pay is worth it."

***  
**Dom**

"You´re talking to that good driver," he simply said. He didn't turn to watch Brian; he knew how the blonde was feeling about this.

"Anything else that I should know?" Han approached Dom and stayed next to him so he could hear what the plan was all about, both men were excellent divers, no doubt about that.

He crossed his arms waiting for an answer, it all seems too damn easy, everything the German guy was describing was easy to him, he was an expert but that didn't mean things couldn't go wrong. "When can we start?"

**Brian**

"Come with us." The man stated in regards to Dom´s question, which Brian didn't like one bit.

He turned to the brunette next to him and muttered. "I don't like this. He's only going to attract attention and we don't need that."

The Germans nodded towards Han and asked. "You're interested as well?" With an American and a Asian they could at least be sure the two weren't Germany cops. It was easy to trust them.

Brian turned his back onto the show and started walking away. "I'm not going to watch him run into trouble." He kicked at the dirt under his soles and scowled hoping he wouldn't have to walk all the way home.  
***

Half way across the world the cops were searching the favelas for a certain American fugitive. It was late afternoon when they were knocking on Rosas door in full gear, vests, rifles and helmets.

"Open up." They shouted in Portuguese. When she slightly opened the door it was forcefully pushed open and a moment later three armed police men were making their way into the apartment.

"We have information that an American criminal has been hiding on this block. Is there anybody else here but you?"

**Dom**

Brian was having a little tantrum as he and Han walked away with the Germans leaving Giselle with the ex cop. He quickly eyed Giselle as if making sure to keep an eye on Brian. Thank god they brought two cars instead of one. "Get in the car now," she told Brian. She had to agree with Brian but the man had it own reason to jump into trouble.

*****  
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.**

Mia had just finished to feed Sienna that was now sleeping in her arms; she kept rocking her in her arms and placed her in the bed making sure lots of pillows were around her to prevent the baby from rolling and falling to the floor.

She took a moment to look at her daughter and smiled as she remembered Sal´s visit with his cousin, Rosa and after checking Sienna he gave the green light for Mia to travel, she had decide to go to Germany in 14 days to surprise her family, that´s when she heard the pounding on the door.

She debated whether to go out and make her presence with Rosa after identifying the police. Mia looked Brazilian and spoke the language, would it be worse if she stay hidden in her room? At the last minute she decided to stay inside her room, she frantically searched for a quick place to hide.

She was going to step out the room but then remembered when she talked to Brian and he mentioned not knowing where his wallet was, last time she gave him her ID and she was pretty sure the police had now pictures of her and Brian.

The only place to hide was under the bed. "Shit," she whispered, silly place to hide hoping the cops who were now walking around the house wouldn´t look under the bed.

"Just me and my children," Just in time for Nico to exit his room rubbing his eyes, the pounding and shouting was loud for Mia to hear, Mia knew the police were searching the favelas and both knew what to do if the cops came searching inside Rosa´s house, she just prayed Mia wasn´t found.

**Brian**

The commanding tone that she was using didn't go over well with Brian, who didn't like taking orders so he turned his sour look on Giselle and stated. "Barking orders doesn't suit you." Then he looked back at the crowd, who was still watching other people race. His hand was on the door to the driver side so he asked. "Why? Is there a problem?" Maybe she knew something he didn't.

Not too far away he could spot Dom and Han speed off in the other car. "You're making a mistake." He muttered to himself while watching them.

The sound of sirens was a little different than in the states but still easily recognizable so a second later Brian was in the driver seat now screaming at Giselle to get in the car.

As soon as she closed her door half the tire was stuck to the tarmac as Brian took off as fast as he could just like 10 other cars. It was chaos and hard to avoid a collision.

The police looked at the little boy, then gave each other a nod and started searching rooms. In the bedroom they found a small baby with fairly white skin a blue eyes looking up at them.

*****  
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil**

"Is that your baby?" They asked since it was odd for a colored mother to have such a light colored kid.

"Where's the father?" They demanded to know.

Then pushed wardrobe doors, the bathroom and kitchen doors open.

One of the men stood next to the bed and looked down at the little blue eyed girl with his head cocked to the side. One of his boots actually stepped on a strand of Mia's dark locks without noticing it.

*******  
**Giselle**

"barking orders to you is better than kicking your ass, Brian" Brian was like a brother to her, but he also had to understand Dom. "I know you hate the idea of Dom jumping into trouble, but he knows what he´s doing." Even her voice as she stated the last words were not much believable.

**Rio de Janeiro, Brazil**

Mia had to bit her lip when one of the officer step on her hair and panic a little when more questions kept coming at Rosa.

Rosa didn't show any nervousness as she answer the officer´s question. "Yes, she is. Her father died before she was born," as the words left her lips, Rosa couldn´t help as her voice cracked a little.

She never spoke to Mia about Vince. Mia could feel the pain in Rosa´s voice. Suddenly, she felt the officer weight get off her hair and slowly almost quickly hid it under the bed. "Light skin, gorgeous blue eyes just like him…"

´Don't ask for a picture, don't ask for a picture,´ Mia started to say in her mind.

**Brian**

"What? Are you challenging me to a fight?" Brian asked while shifting down and turning a corner just to hit the gas hard when he came out of it.

"I ain't beatin no woman." He replied in his best redneck accent but wasn't so sure Giselle would hold back when it came down to it.

In the rear view mirror he could see one police car following him and another guy behind him.

Ahead of the was an intersection with a bright red light but from Brian's position there was no other car in sight so he pushed the pedal to the metal and hollered. "Hope you have your seatbelt on."

Just when he was about to fly past the light he spotted a car coming from the left out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly the first fragment of memory of his crash in Brazil popped back in his mind and made him freeze and unable to react for a split second.

****Rio de Janeiro, Brazil****

"Show me a picture of your husband. Hurry." the officer demanded in Portuguese but soon was satisfied when Rosa pointed to one on the wall. Vince and Rosa were in it and he was wearing sunglasses.

"Okay." The men nodded and exchanged a few words.

"All clear here. Let us know when you see an American, tall, blonde around here."

With that they left without looking under the bed where Mia was hiding.

Rosa locked the door behind them.

**Giselle**

She ruffled Brian´s short blonde hair. "As much as I´d like to kick your ass, I know Dom could enjoy it but the last thing I want to is have problems with Mia," the sirens could be heard and she hurried to the passenger side as Brian press on the gas.

She quickly placed on her seatbelt as she too took a quick glance at the rearview mirror. For some reason Brian stopped for a second. "Brian!" she shouted his name trying to wake him up from his own trance just as the police car got closer, if he didn't hurry the police car was going to hit them, it didn't look like the cops were about to stop.

Mia got out from under bed. "That was too close," her heart beating too fast, that was so damn close. She eyed Sienna who woke up by the pounding on the door, to her surprise the little girl was smiling and squealing. "That was no fun,"

Rosa entered the room. "Thank you so much, Rosa." She took a deep breath as her heart beat decrease to a more normal pace. By now both women were showing how nervous they were.

**Brian**

Giselle's voice tore Brian out of his memories and brought him back to reality where they'd get hit by an oncoming car any moment. Reacting as fast as he could without thinking Brian tapped on the breaks enough to let the car from the left pass but made the car behind them connect with their bumper which shook them up a bit.

The blink of an eye later he geared down accelerated again and shot across the intersection just in between two cars.

His heart was racing and he could practically hear his own heart beat but the adrenalin had sharpened his sense and made him aware of not only what was going on in front of him but behind him.

While he turned another corner he saw that the cops behind him slowed down across the intersection.

Behind the corner cars were parked pretty awkwardly. Since Brian cut it he actually scraped along one of the parked cars and wince loudly. "Damn, why are they parking right here?" He complained because Giselle's car now had visible damage but the woman next to him looked calm...at least it seemed like she did.

It didn't take long until he could see the flashing blue light again.

Rosa calmed down faster than Mia but as soon as she was able to think clear again she grabbed Mia by both hands and pulled her into the bedroom. "You need to get out of here. As fast as you can. Take your belongings and run otherwise they'll find you."

*******  
**Giselle**

"Damn cops," she said as she saw too the blue lights. She winced a little when she heard the sound of her car getting some damage but didn't complain, first they needed to get away from the cops, she would later ask the guys to help with the car.

Mia was shocked to hear Rosa´s word. "No.." she mumbled. "No, I can´t go, not without you. What if they come back and don't see you with Sienna. They´ll start asking questions and they´ll know something´s up,"

She couldn't leave Rosa or Nico behind. "I´ll go that is if you two come with me, that was what me and Dom promised Vince, to take care of Nico and you too,"

**Brian**

"Damn, where do these guys learn to drive like that?" Brian asked in disbelieve because the police car was hard to shake. It had more horse power than the general American cop car.

Since turning corners wasn't going to cut it Brian decided to cut across the oncoming traffic over the edge of a sidewalk where he knocked over some trash cans and then into a back alley. The cops had to wait until the traffic got less to follow him. In that time he was already out of the alley on the other side. Just when he turned that corner and had his hand on the stick to shift up his weaker left hand slipped from the wheel and caused the car to go much father to the right than he wanted it to and before he could yank the wheel back into position the cars side connected with another large trash can. Instantly the right airbag got shot out of the side of seat protecting Giselle from greater harm. Yet it brought the car to an abrupt halt while Brian turn to her terrified and grabbed her arm. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

Behind them the flashing lights come closer and Brian knew he had to back out and take off if the car was still running.

**Giselle**

Brian sure knew how to drive, jumping lanes and shifting every five seconds bringing the car to more speed. Everything was going smooth, the adrenaline rushing through her even if she wasn't driving the car. The speed quickly went down until it hit the large trash can, the impact was strong, but the airbag protected her from any further damage, good thing she had a seatbelt on.

She felt Brian´s hand on her arm. His voice full with worry, she search on her jeans pocket taking out a small knife removing the air from the airbag, she pulled the material down and turned to Brian. "Yes, I´m fine," a little shaken up by the impact.

**Brian**

Her reaction as well as the fact that she simply took a pocket knife to get the air bag out of the way didn't fail to impress Brian. Her history became evident now. She was tough, pretty cookie.

Brian nevertheless was worried because the airbag only came out to protect somebody if the impact was hard enough. He let his pale blue eyes linger on her for another moment. "Are you sure?"

Then he had no other choice but back away from the obstacle and hit the gas again to get away from the police that was getting awfully close.

He shot out of the alley onto the main road and then hit a long, straights stretch. He was able to gain some ground but what really saved him in the end was a red light and traffic that stopped the cops.

After that they were gone.

When Brian and Giselle stopped in a safe place the adrenaline was slowly wearing off and they both climbed out of the damaged car. From the outside they could see the full damage.

"A bit of paint won't fix that. I'm so sorry." He moved his left hand. "My hand just slipped."

Silently he made a pact with himself that he wouldn't drive anymore until his hand worked properly again."I promise you, I'm not getting behind the wheel again."

*******  
**Giselle**

If felt good to feel her feet on the ground, she closed the door and looked at the damage clearly visible in her car, she winced feeling bad for the car but knew Brian and the guys will work on it. "Yeah, don´t worry as long as we are fine,"

She heard to his explanation and saw how he moved his left hand. "That sounds like a good idea to me," agreeing for him not getting behind the wheel anytime soon. No more sirens could be heard, a good sign. They just had to wait for the boys to come from the race.

**Brian**

Her reaction to the damaged car was a lot easier than what he expected and feared. "I wish all chicks were as easy as you are." He offered her a smile and added. "I promise I'll make it all good again."

His eyes lingered on the scratches and scrapes which instantly put a frown on his face. If he had been more careful there would be no damage. Plus it would cost a couple hundred dollars to replace the airbag.

"I swear I never hit a trash can like that before. I'm usually a better driver." This incident and the accident in Brazil were eating away on his self confidence. Was he not a reliable driver anymore? Did people who got in cars with him put their life's on the line?

The frown on his usually so happy face got deeper and deeper while he leaned his back against the wall and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"What now?" He asked checking his watch. "Dom and Han will be a while I guess."

Secretly he wondered what Mia was doing, whether she was shopping or taking a stroll or playing with Sienna. Should he tell her about his mishap?

**Giselle**

"I know you will," She was sure of his words and trusted him too. "Yeah, they will take a while," she leaned a little on the car.

"We just wait or..." the place where Brian parked was dead quiet not a lot of people went by that area. She took a quick look around recognizing the area" The house is near here. We can either walk or take the car although we wouldn´t want to look suspicious with a car so—damaged." She bit her lip.

**Rio de Janeiro, Brazil**

She begged Rosa to come with her but the Brazilian woman didn't want to go. She had a life here, besides nobody knew about Nico´s father involved with Dom and what their "job" if you can call it that was.

She finished packing her stuff and Sienna´s, just few clothes for the both of them. She looked at the window, it wasn´t raining anymore which meant she had a few hours to get out before night came. Good thing she had money with her so she could get an airplane ticket and wait 10 long hours to get to Berlin.

She exited the room with a medium size luggage in her hands. Rosa approach to help and took her to the airport. After buying her ticket she waited a little before it was time to go. "Thank you so much for everything and don´t hesitate to call…" after the woman embrace she leaned to take a better look at Nico. "Thank you too, Nico. Take care of mom and we´ll visit you in a few months," kissing the child´s head.

"Let´s go," she whispered to a happy Sienna in her arms, Sienna just waved her arms sharing the same excitement as her mom. She couldn´t wait to see Brian´s reaction when he notices how much Sienna grew the past two months since the two said their goodbyes.


End file.
